It only takes a lie
by FiliKiliThorinforever
Summary: Fíli is looking forward to the arrival of his new sibling. The day before his siblings birth however, a group of human children tell him the 'reason' for there being so few dwarfling's leading Fíli to make a drastic decision about his future.
1. If only to see you smile again

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

It was a mid-Summers morning in Ered Luin. The clouds over the village were scarce, but if one was to gaze to the hills, a storm could be seen brewing in the South. Storms weren't particularly common this time of year, but then again, the last few weeks hadn't exactly gone as expected either. A great battle between the dwarves of Erebor, led by the yet to be crowned Thorin Oakenshield against an army of 100 Orcs had occurred in the forests outside of town. Many dwarves had fallen; in fact more had died than survived, including Thorin's brother-in-law, his sister's husband and the father to Thorin's only nephew and heir, Fíli.

Telling Dís, his beloved sister and only surviving family member, that her husband had been slain had been hard. In fact having to tell her and cause her pain like he did had been heart wrenching. It had been even harder watching her trying to control her grief because of the fact she was nearing the end of her pregnancy, waiting to welcome another child into the world.

Child bearing for dwarven women was difficult enough as it was, but trying to stop stress or, in Dís's case grief, from killing an unborn child was a difficult battle. And their family had suffered enough death in Thorin's lifetime that he refused to allow his sister to succumb to grief and lose her child. He had moved into Dís' house in order to look after her, to encourage her to grieve but in a manner that would be safe for both her and the baby.

Of course, it wasn't just Dís that was mourning the loss of a loved one. Fíli, his nephew, his heir, his shining golden light and boundless energy had lost his father. When his father had gone to fetch his weapons Fíli had been standing by the door watching him prepare for battle. He watched silently as his mother and father said goodbye, one promising to return and the other promising to be there waiting, no matter how long it took. Thorin arrived at the door at this point and he swept his sister into a hug before planting a kiss on her forehead, promising they'd both return, and then telling his brother-in-law that they needed to leave. Fíli's father stopped by the door and crouched in front of his son, and Fíli wrapped his arms around his father as hard as he could.

"Pwease don't leave daddy." Fíli whimpered quietly, his head buried in his father's neck.

"I'm sorry Fíli, I have to. Someone has to protect you and mummy." His father replied in a wavering voice. He wrapped his arms around the small boy and stood so he could squeeze him tightly.

"You'll come back wight? You'll be there in the morning when I wake up, just wike every morning?" Fíli whispered back.

If hearts could shatter, then Thorin's would have shattered where he stood. He hated having to drag his brother-in-law out to fight but there was no choice. A large contingent of dwarves had left not a week earlier for an extensive hunting trip to secure supplies for the coming winter, so they weren't left with many dwarves to defend the village.

He watched the pause that occurred before the older blonde dwarf nodded in response to his young son. "Yes Fíli, I will be there tomorrow morning, I promise. Just like every morning. Now, until then I need you to be brave and do exactly what mummy tells you to ok?" He felt the little dwarfling nod against his shoulder, and shockingly blue eyes swimming in tears met his as Fíli lifted his head. He pressed his forehead to his sons and then replaced it with a kiss before placing him back on the ground. Fíli ran to Thorin next, wrapping his little arms around his uncle's leg, Fíli couldn't quite reach around both yet.

"Pwease come back Unca Thowin. You and daddy must both come back! Pwomise?!" Fíli pleaded, his lower lip trembling.

Thorin cupped a hand around his nephews face "We will little one. I promise." And with that both dwarves strode out the door, leaving a terrified dwarfling and an anxious dwarrowdam behind.

Two dwarves strode out the door that night, but only one returned. It was early in the morning when Thorin, bloody, injured and battle weary limped through the door to find Dís and Fíli curled up on a couch they'd dragged into the kitchen. Dís awoke with a start brandishing a sword she'd hidden off to the side before she realised that it was Thorin who had arrived. Fíli had woken with a start cowering into the couch as Dís had leapt up leaving him no protection.

"Thorin!" Dís cried "Thank Mahal you're alive! But where's…." she trailed off as she saw the look of grief in her brothers' eyes. "No…. no, no, no, no" she whispered, shaking her head, tears flowing freely down her face.

"I'm so sorry Dís" Thorin said striding over and wrapping his arms around his sister and burying his face in her hair. "He fell defending me. I wouldn't be here if not for him."

Fíli had watched the exchange silently, tears welling up in his eyes, and before Thorin or Dís could stop him, Fíli went tearing out the door and down the road, screaming for his father. Thorin and Dís had been wrapped in their embrace and their grief, and when they heard the door slam open they looked in horror as the golden haired child disappeared into the night, before Thorin was hot on his heels.

* * *

Thorin shook his head to clear the horrible memory. The pain of losing yet another family member clear in his mind, but the cries of grief from his nephew, the pain and suffering of trying to understand that his father would never kiss him good morning in those incredibly blue eyes were etched in his mind forever.

Thorin sighed and looked down at the blonde dwarfling walking silently beside him. Thorin was taking Fíli to spend the day at Bofur's toyshop, the toymaker had told Thorin that he had come up with some new toys that he wanted Fíli to try out before selling them, but in truth all of Thorin's and Dís's close friends had secretly been worried about the child.

Dís had told Thorin that she didn't want anyone coming to the house, her reason being if she wasn't being asked how she was she'd be able to control her emotions until the baby arrived. She told Thorin that it was the only way to ensure the safety of the baby and she certainly wasn't going to lose this new and last connection to her husband.

However by stopping people from visiting her, she had also stopped people from seeing Fíli. Thorin would come home from the forge in the afternoons to see his nephew sitting in the yard in front of the house playing quietly with some blocks, all his toy soldiers had mysteriously gone missing the day after the fight, and not by the adults doing either. Fíli would look up at his uncle with no trace of emotion as he neared, and would then go back to playing with his toys.

The absence of a greeting, whether it was words or a smile, or both which was generally the case, left Thorin feeling miserable and empty. He had voiced his concerns about Fíli to his closest friends Dwalin and Balin, who had since started going home the long way, past Dís' house to check up on Fíli from a distance, as had others Thorin was close with, one of those being Bofur. The emptiness in Fíli's eyes, the slump in the normally excitable posture had affected the toymaker so much that he decided to create something new, just for Fíli, so that, if even just for a moment, everyone could witness the golden haired boys smile again.

"Do you know where we're going today?" Thorin asked Fíli gently, watching his nephew closely.

"No Unca Thorin" Fíli replied in a neutral tone, still looking ahead.

"Well I won't tell you then, I'll let it be a surprise" Thorin said, smiling slightly.

Fíli nodded in reply, his head still facing just ahead of him, his shoulders still partially slumped.

Thorin's smile faltered and he sighed. Hopefully Bofur would be able to cheer up his nephew.

As they rounded the corner, Thorin and Fíli spotted Bofur standing outside the toyshop, causing Fíli to stop dead in his tracks.

"Aye Fíli" Thorin said crouching next to his nephew giving him a view of the surprised expression gracing his nephew's features "We've come to see Bofur today." Thorin couldn't help but grin at the small dwarfling who was still standing there in surprise. "Well? Aren't you going to say hello?"

A dazzling smile broke on Fíli's face. He looked at Thorin briefly with a grin before sprinting over to Bofur with his arms raised. Thorin stood grinning, and hurried after his nephew who had just been swept up into Bofur's arms and twirled around making him giggle uncontrollably.

"Hewo Bofur!" Fíli gasped out, attempting to catch his breath.

"Hello little one! I've missed seeing you." Bofur said holding the dwarfling at arm's length to get a good look at him. Bofur pulled Fíli back to him and sat him on his hip so he could tweak the boys' nose. "And we've missed your smile. All of us have, including your Uncle." Bofur looked at the dwarf who was now standing near Bofur and Fíli with a smile on his face.

"We know it's been tough on you little one. Me, Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín and my brothers, we've all missed seeing you lately. But we've never stopped caring for you, ok? And neither has your Uncle for that matter, so don't for one second think you're alone." He said, finishing sternly. He felt Fíli nod against his shoulder before setting him down.

"You're going to spend the day here alright? I need some help with some new toys and I couldn't think of a better dwarfling to help me. What do you think?" Bofur said with a much more playful tone, and smiling as Fíli's face brightened as he nodded in reply. "Well go on then!" He said nodding towards his toyshop.

Thorin watched his nephew dash through the toyshop door before turning to Bofur with a smile. "Thank you," he said "It's been a while since I've seen Fíli smile like that. I'll pick him up this evening, I've got to help Dís prepare for the baby's arrival, Oín reckons it's due any day now. And I think I'm going to talk to her about this visitor-ban that she's got in place as it hasn't been good for Fíli. He's needed others to be there, one's that didn't break their promise to him, and that hasn't been possible with her ban." Thorin finished sadly.

Bofur nodded in understanding "He'll be alright Thorin, he just needs time." He clapped a hand to Thorin's shoulder and headed towards the door.

"Fíli! I'll pick you up later ok?" Thorin called towards the door. He knew Fíli wouldn't hear him, but it made him feel better that he'd at least tried to tell his nephew where he was going without disappearing on him altogether.

As Thorin walked away, he heard the patter of feet and turned around to see a mop of golden hair flying towards him. Thorin knelt in perfect time for Fíli to launch himself into his arms.

Fíli wrapped his arms around his Uncles neck and pressed multiple kisses to his face "Fank you Unca Thowin!" He said happily, more happily than Thorin had heard since…. Well Thorin wasn't going to dwell on that.

Thorin went to pull away from Fíli so he could plant a kiss on his forehead but Fíli held him tight and put his mouth to his uncle's ear and whispered "I wove's you, Unca, more than anyfing. I wiwll always wove you." And he buried his head in his Uncle's neck.

Thorin was frozen to the spot in which he'd crouched. The amount of tender love that was in Fíli's voice made his heart soar. His nephew would be fine, eventually, but he would heal. He wrapped his muscular arms around his nephew in an embrace, wanting to keep Fíli there in his arms for eternity. Instead he settled for pulling Fíli slightly from him so they could touch foreheads, before Thorin placed his lips to his nephew's forehead.

"Have fun today, and don't cause too much mischief." Thorin said gently with a grin and a wink, looking into his nephew's eyes.

Fíli nodded, grinning widely and ran back to the toyshop, waving over his shoulder as he disappeared through the door.

Thorin sighed, elated and hurried home to tell Dís of Fíli's change.

* * *

Several hours had passed since Thorin had left Fíli at the toyshop. He'd hurried home to find Dís and told her of what had happened with her son. Dís had been delighted with Fíli's response to being left at the toyshop, but she'd also been horrified when Thorin pointed out that it was the no-visitors ban that was affecting the boy the most. She'd put it in place to protect and make it easier on the both of them, but it was only easier on Dís because she'd been through loss before, Fíli hadn't. She told Thorin that she'd make it up to Fíli when he got home, after giving him his favourite meal and lots of kisses and cuddles of course.

"Right" Thorin said, "now to get you sorted to move to the House of Healing until you give birth."

Dís poked out her tongue at that, but didn't argue. And so the rest of the day was spent cooking, packing and making sure everything would be ready for her when she got home.

* * *

Back at the shop, Fíli was sitting at the side of the building in the shade. He'd already discarded several of Bofur's ideas because of them not being good to hold, or fun, or they just looked weird. Those were currently scattered around the base of the tree, Fíli's temporary storage area, whilst Fíli played with a new wooden horse Bofur had made. Fíli liked this horse, he liked it a lot. It was time to play horse racing with it and see if it would be a good steed. He wondered if Bofur would help him paint it.

"Well well well." Looky what we have here boys…" A voice drawled suddenly as a dark shadow fell over Fíli.


	2. A tale told

**A/N**

**Hey guys, wow I must say I am COMPLETELY blown away with the response for this, my phone's been going crazy with all the add's and reviews :) I only joined Fanfic recently and have liked many (clearly) of the Hobbit and LOTR's stories, but have always felt that there aren't enough Fíli-centred ones, so thought I'd try my hand at one as he's my favourite! Am already up to chapter 4 here so will try and get the story done as I'm having a blast writing it! Have never written a story before so bear with me, I do a lot of reading and movie watching so it should make sense, and I have the plot all laid out, so it's going to be a very intense story :)**

**I also apologise to those who when I first posted it; it was called "If only to see you smile" as you can now tell that is the name of the first chapter, had a couple of uploading issues, then couldn't access the story, then I could re-access it so I managed to change it to its proper title.**

**I'm also planning on creating a playlist to go with this, I always listen to music when doing assignments and reading, and had thought a while ago that it would be a good idea, so I've decided to give it a shot as it'll make it all the more emotional :)**

**I've decided that the music that I think should accompany this chapter is the extended Mirkwood track from the Desolation of Smaug soundtrack, reason being it's tense throughout and I couldn't find one that worked for the whole chapter as well as what this one does. If you have a track that works better let me know, but I'm happy with this one. Don't worry, I have some really emotional tracks coming up for future chapters ;)**

******As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

A dark shadow fell over Fíli as he sat there contemplating how best to trial his new wooden horse.

"Well well well." Looky what we have here boys." A voice drawled suddenly from behind him. Fíli turned around in shock to look up into the faces of five human boys standing over him, the one in the front with a somewhat evil smirk on his face.

"H-Hewo" Fíli said, gulping nervously. Who were these human boys? He'd never seen them in his life. And where was Bofur? Hopefully the toymaker came for him shortly and scared these boys away; the one in the front didn't look very friendly.

"H-Hewo" The boy in the front mimicked back, before laughing cruelly. "We know who you are, little dwarf and we know about your relationship to Thorin Oakenshield, which is why we came to find you. But before we get any further, allow me to introduce myself and my companions. I'm Drégo, this is Ronhín, Nörda, Télvin and Cardös. We live in the town, and know all about your family and how your father died recently. So sorry for you loss." Drégo said with a mock bow.

Fíli looked at Drégo with watery eyes. He'd managed to avoid thinking about his father all day, in fact it was the happiest he'd been since his father had died. Why did this boy have to bring this up?

"What do you want?" Fíli asked in a small voice.

Drégo pretended to look hurt "we do not want anything, little dwarfling. However when we learnt that Thorin's sister is with child, and then learnt that she is your mother, we knew we needed to speak to you. To tell you something VERY important before the baby arrives so that you could make the most important decision of your life." Drégo spoke with innocence, but his eyes were triumphantly malicious, and unfortunately for Fíli, he was all but drawn in by the voice.

Fíli looked at Drégo with shock. What could this human know about the dwarves and that was deemed so important to know before his sibling arrived? Why not after? And where was Bofur?! But that tone, so innocent, perhaps he had some tips?_ Yes_ thought Fíli, _he only wants to help me with my new sibling_. However Fíli failed to notice the maliciousness in the Drégo's eyes.

"What do I need to know Drégo?" Fíli asked hesitantly

Drégo sat in front of Fíli, his friends following suit. "Well little one…" Drégo began

"Fíli. My name is Fíli." Fíli corrected him gently.

"My apologies Fíli" Drégo said "Well, I believe you need to know something about dwarves and the reason for their difficulty to have children, aside from the lack of dwarven woman." Drégo checked to make sure Fíli's attention was completely on him, and he was not disappointed.

"You see before the dragon attacked Erebor, dwarven children were plentiful. Every family had more than one child, generally three or four, for the dwarven families were able to look after numerous dwarflings. However, after the dragon attacked, and your people were forced to flee, Thrór noticed the suffering of your people, the fact that many were dying due to illness, lack of shelter, but most importantly: the lack of nourishment. It wasn't the grown dwarves that were dying due to starvation, oh no, it was the dwarfling's." Drégo paused looking at Fíli with hidden glee. He had pulled the boy into his story as planned, his mouth hung open and his body was leaning forward slightly as he listened attentively. Drégo fought a smile before continuing on.

"The dwarfling's were dying of starvation, and there was nothing that could be done to save them, despite everyone's best efforts as all the dwarves too were starving, the grown one's just knew how to handle it better. By the time your people reached Ered Luin, only a handful of dwarfling's remained. Once your people were established they met together to discuss what should be done about future dwarfling's, to avoid losing so many ever again you see. After much discussion the dwarves of Erebor decided that only one child was to be had per dwarven family, and so it was written in the rules of your people."

Drégo finished his sentence softly and stared at Fíli, he watched the dwarfling process the information and waited, biding his time, for he knew what question would come next. The one question that could be used to truly break the spirit of this child, and to destroy Thorin Oakenshields' family.

"But..." Said Fíli frowning slightly, trying to think of how to ask his question "If there's only allowed one child, then why is mama having another? Won't she get in twouble?" Fíli asked, his eyes wide. Why would his Uncle let his mama have another baby if he knew she'd get in big trouble?

"Oh no, dear Fíli" Drégo purred, it was time to pounce, to deliver the crushing blow. "She won't get in trouble, if anything, Thorin will be thanking her. You see, the dwarves have what is called a back door to go with the rule. Dwarf families are allowed to have a second child, if the first was a huge disappointment. If the first child failed to turn out the way they were expected to, for any reason, then a second child could be had to 'replace' the first, and the first would just become a spare in the family, required to protect the second because the second is the more important one. Of course, the parents would never tell the child this, they would just let them believe they were important because they got to protect the wanted sibling" Drégo was sure to drag the word 'wanted' out.

Drégo sat back when he realised he'd been leaning forward as he spoke quietly to Fíli. "_Take that, Thorin Oakenshield", _Drégo thought "_now it's your turn to see your family ripped apart, torn away from you out of your control. You had my father arrested for taking back what should have been ours and he wound up dead at the hands of another prisoner. I'm going to watch you as your nephew dies from grief, or maybe I'll put him out of his misery in front of you, we'll see what comes to pass first. Ah, revenge is sweet."_

Fíli sat there processing this information, and this information hit him like a slap across the face. He was a disappointment, he wasn't what his mother and father had wanted; he'd failed them. They had decided to replace him because they no longer loved him. His father had died before he got to meet the son he had truly desired, instead stuck with the memory of a failure. And Thorin, his Uncle whom Fíli loved with all his heart had only been pretending to love him, waiting for another nephew that he could truly love to come along.

Fíli blinked back tears, a small whimper escaping his lips. "_No_,"he thought to himself, trying to push away the feeling of dread, "Drégo _is lying. Unca will pick me up tonight, just wike he pwomised, and he'll kiss me goodnight, wike he always does. And mama will be there to kiss me and tuck me in."_

Before Fíli could tell Drégo what he'd been thinking he heard Bofur calling his name. Drégo and his friends leapt up in fear and ran off. Drégo was the last to leave however as he crouched next to Fíli again and whispered "I know you don't want to believe me, little Fíli, but they no longer love you. I think now is the time to decide what you want your future to be: live unloved forever, or leave and never come back." And with that Drégo was gone.


	3. A decision made

**Alrighty, chapter 3 things start to get intense, but humor before stress is best :) so the first part should make you smile. Two songs to go with this playlist, they are again from the DoS special edition soundtrack, at the moment these songs just seem to fit for some reason, but I assure you it will change. First paragraphs song is "Beyond the Forest" and second and third paragraphs song is "On the Doorstep" for those who love the soundtrack, you'll hopefully be able to pick up on the mood I'm trying to create here. Try and read the last two lines when the music reaches 5:50, just if you want your heart to break for a bit.**

**Also shout out to Lakota1172 ****and Bluestarshine for the encouragements through PM and reviews, and to everyone else who's reviewed, you guys have totally made my day!**

******As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

It was mid-afternoon now, Fíli had been at Bofur's for several hours and Dís had just finished cooking enough food for Fíli and Thorin to live off for the next few days, in fact she'd cooked so much that there was probably enough to feed five fully-grown dwarves for a week. Thorin had said as much on his way to her room to grab her bag for the Healing house.

"Who exactly are you planning on having here Dís? Fíli and I aren't going to get anywhere near finishing this food!" Thorin said munching on an apple and rhubarb scone.

"Thorin Oakenshield! I am not going to subject my son to your cooking ever again. Do you remember what happened last time you tried to make dinner?" Dís replied with an eyebrow arched.

Thorin winced at the memory "Aside from the pair of us wearing most of it and a couple of burns, it wasn't really that bad!" Thorin said somewhat defensively "Right?" he added looking at her uncertainly.

Dís rolled her eyes "you wouldn't know as you left for the Iron Hills that night, but Fíli was sick for an entire week! I decided not to say anything to save your dignity, as it is as soon as he was better he found it extremely entertaining that your food was a better weapon than a meal, but that was only AFTER. I've been using your cooking as a threat of punishment ever since."

Thorin grinned at his sister, of course Fíli would find Thorin's 'inedible food weapons' entertaining. Trying to clean the meal up with Fíli still throwing it around the room and at him with incredibly cute battle cries had felt like he was undertaking an unwinnable quest, but it had kept him in an elated mood throughout his trip to the Iron Hills.

"Alright alright! Point taken, still unless you're planning on us hosting some kind of dinner party in your absence you are mistaken in your fear of us starving sister." Thorin said walking off to her room. Having Dwalin and Balin over for dinner wasn't a bad idea actually, it would give them a chance to see Fíli for the first time since the ban; he decided to invite them over the moment Dís was safely delivered to the Healing House.

Dís chuckled as Thorin left the room and finished setting the plates of food on the table. She covered them over and made sure that everything was well sealed before storing them. She thought back to how she'd walked in the door after visiting a sick friend to find her kitchen plastered with red sauce and gooey chunks of unidentifiable meat dripping down from the ceiling, whilst Thorin and Fíli were crouched behind furniture, Fíli being the closest and throwing the food across the room. Thorin had appeared from behind the table that was currently on its side when he heard the door open, allowing Fíli to land a particularly large glob of food smack in the middle of his face. Dís had looked in shock at her food covered brother before laughing at the sight. Fíli had spun round at the noise and looked horrified that his mother had caught him throwing food, so he scampered to hide behind Thorin's food plastered table, only to be hoisted into the air by Thorin and tickled mercilessly whilst Thorin looked at Dís with a guilty expression.

"Dís?" Thorin had appeared behind her concerned at the fact his sister was shaking. Dís turned around and Thorin relaxed, seeing the smile and muffled laughter that was coming from his sister.

"I'm fine Thorin, I was just thinking about when I came home the night you cooked. It's not everyday someone gets to see Thorin Oakenshield plastered in his own food." Dís gasped for breath as she was now laughing so much. Thorin couldn't help but laugh with her.

Dís gasped suddenly, one hand grasping the table and the other her stomach. She looked down at her stomach in shock then to Thorin.

"Dís! Dís what's wrong? Talk to me!" Thorin said lurching forward to hold his sisters face, trying to understand what had happened.

"Thorin… my water has broken, it's time. He's coming." Dís said looking at her brother with shining eyes. Dís had always been certain the baby was a boy.

Thorin managed to control his emotions. "Alright, time to go then. Come on." Thorin said guiding his sister towards the door.

"Wait! What about Fíli? He's still with Bofur and you're meant to be picking him up soon." Dís said, refusing to move.

Thorin thought quickly "can you make it outside alright? I'll go get Fréya and tell her what's happening." When Dís nodded Thorin went sprinting out the door to the neighbours.

Thorin knocked on Fréya's door hurriedly. "_Come on_," Thorin thought, still hammering on the door "_answer the door Fréya."_ Suddenly the door opened throwing Thorin slightly off balance.

"Thorin!" Fréya said in surprise "What's the matter?"

"Fréya, I need your help." Thorin said relief flooding his voice on finding the young dwarrowdam home.

Fréya was quite young in dwarf years, 80 to be exact. She lived with her mother, father and two siblings, and their family were close friends with Dís. Fréya was often brought over to babysit Fíli whenever Dís had to go out for the day and Thorin was either working or away. Fíli didn't mind, in fact he loved it when Fréya babysat as the pair of them would often go on little adventures around the town or oversee massive battles that would occupy both their houses. She'd also take Fíli climbing and swimming as a regular treat to the point where the pair of them would be passed out from exhaustion on the couch from a long day. She seemed to be the only one capable of keeping up with his limitless energy.

"Fréya, Dís has just gone into labour, I'm going to take her to the Healing House now, but Fíli is still at Bofur's toyshop. Can you pick him up, bring him home and give him some dinner? There's plenty to eat, Dís made sure of it. I probably won't be home tonight so you'll most likely have to stay until morning." Thorin said quickly.

Fréya grinned at Thorin "that's great news! And yes it's no problem, I'll put a bag together and go get him. Would you like me to tell him what's happening?"

Thorin thought about her question momentarily. He knew it would be better if Fíli knew that his sibling was on its way, but in doing that Fíli would most likely try and get to the Healing Houses to see them, and Thorin knew it was probably best for Dís to have some strength returned before trying to handle two children.

"No," Thorin said after a slight pause "It will be easier for Dís if Fíli doesn't know until the baby has been delivered, after all there's still a long way to go before it arrives, anything could happen in the next few hours. Tell him that we had to leave early and that I will be along for him in the morning, but ONLY if he asks, he doesn't need to know otherwise."

Thorin bowed before turning and running back to the house. Fréya followed Thorin and helped him take Dís to the House of Healing (knowing the brother and sister would appreciate the extra help to get there) and waited until Dís was placed in Oín's capable hands before heading back to her house to pack for the night, then going to fetch Fíli.

* * *

Fíli sat there in shock, staring after Drégo's disappearing form trying to figure out what he was supposed to do and believe. Part of him decided that Drégo was lying, his parents and Uncle DID love him, why wouldn't they? They spent lots of time with him; mama always gave him lots of hugs and kisses and gave him an occasional treat if he had been a good boy and Uncle always played games with him and told him bedtime stories.

_That was before daddy died_, Fíli realised. After he had died, his mama had become somewhat distant, never sparing as much time to cuddle him or plant a kiss on his forehead when he wasn't expecting it. And his Uncle had been different around him too, there weren't always stories before bed, and the games were less often as Fíli would have liked, it was reasons like this that Fíli had become miserable. And it was these thoughts that overtook the others, his head echoing with Drégo's voice _"…a huge disappointment… live unloved forever, or leave and never come back."_

"_No," _Fíli thought to himself _"Unca pwomised to pick me up. He said he'd neva bweak a pwomise to me again._ _Drégo was lying, he'll see."_

"Fíli? Fíli where are you?" Called Bofur's voice from somewhere nearby.

Fíli looked up to see Bofurs hat, followed by Bofur himself appear around the side of the toyshop.

"Ah, there you are little one. So, what do you think of the toys?" Bofur looked around the small area and saw several toys scattered around the base of the tree.

"Not too fond of those one's eh?" he said looking at the discarded toys with a grin.

Fíli grinned at him sheepishly "They not good to pway with Bofur." Fíli looked around until he spotted the horse he'd put off to the side when Drégo had arrived and held it up to Bofur.

"I wike's this one Bofur, can we paint it? Pwwweaaasse?" Fíli begged the toymaker, fixing his startling blue eyes on him.

Bofur chuckled and sat down next to him, holding out his hand for the horse which Fíli gave him willingly. Bofur inspected it for a moment to satisfy the youngster, he knew Fíli would go for this toy straight away, and had already decided not to paint it himself for that reason. "Well my boy, it certainly is a sturdy steed. Come on," he said standing up and holding a hand out for the dwarfling so he could pull himself up, which Fíli did with a grin and a jump. "Let's go have a look at the paints in the shop and you can pick the colours you want for the horse."

Fíli squealed in delight and raced off to the front door, with Bofur hot on his heels and Drégo's story all but forgotten.

* * *

An hour later Fíli's horse was no longer the bleak looking wooden horse it had been, it was now an array of different colours; it had a black head and neck with blue dots for eyes, a golden mane and tail, a red torso and two green and two brown legs. When Bofur had asked why the different colours after he let Fíli paint it, the young dwarfling had said that "The black is Unca Thowin's and mama's hair, my eyes are bwue and my hair is gowd, wed wike mama's dwess and our bwood, and gween and bwown cause we wive near a fowest."

Fíli had looked slightly exasperated, as though the toymaker had just asked him what his name was, before turning back to finish his new toy. And Bofur, well Bofur had just sat there completely stunned, Fíli was only five for Mahal's sake, and he could put reasons like that to the colours he had picked? Bofur decided he'd tell Thorin when Fíli was out of earshot as he didn't want to embarrass the lad in front of his Uncle, but knew that he deserved the praise for the meanings behind the colours all the same.

The bell for the toyshop door sounded and Bofur left Fíli out the back to go see who had arrived. As Bofur arrived at the shop counter he saw Fréya looking at a display of baby toys.

"Fréya! How lovely to see you today. Is there anything I can help you with?" Bofur knew Fréya relatively well thanks to Fíli's frequent escapades through the town which always had the toyshop as a destination.

"Hello Bofur" Fréya said with a smile "I'd like to purchase this toy please, it's for Fíli's new sibling."

"Well then, you've made a fine choice my dear." Bofur replied as he packaged and handled the payment for the gift. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes actually. Thorin told me Fíli's here and asked me to pick him up." Fréya dropped her voice "Bofur, Dís has gone into labour, and Thorin doesn't want to leave her side until the baby has arrived. He asked me to pick Fíli up before we took Dís to the Healing House. Could you grab him for me?"

Bofur's eyes widened in surprise "Dís wasn't due for another few days from what Thorin told me, I guess it's a good thing they wanted to move her earlier as everything would have been prepared by now. Come with me and we'll get him yeah?"

Fréya nodded and followed the toy maker out to the paint room where Fíli had just finished his horse and was looking it over. The attention Fíli was paying indicated to Bofur that he'd have a fine eye for all of his work in the future.

"Fíli, look whose here!" Bofur said to the dwarfling.

Fíli looked up and grinned "Hewo Fwéya! Look what I maked!" Fíli pointed to his wooden horse with pride.

"Wow Fíli this is incredible! It looks a bit like you and Thorin you know?" Fréya said with a smile, before entering the room Bofur had explained to her briefly the meanings behind the colours and she could see what he meant now more clearly. She looked at the dwarfling again.

"Fíli, you're coming home with me tonight ok? Thorin can't come get you as something came up, but you'll get to see him tomorrow!" Fréya smiled at the dwarfling who had gone still, and after a moment was given a smile that she loved so much. Fíli with his smile and energy was always the perfect cure for a miserable day.

"Fíli why don't you shift your horse to the shelf and you can pick it up tomorrow once it's dried ok?" Bofur said with a smile and pointing to a shelf the dwarfling would be able to access easily. "Then we'll meet you out front" And with that Bofur and Fréya left the room.

The smile Fíli had given Fréya fell from his face as soon as they had left the room, because on the inside Fíli felt his heart break. Drégo had been right all along. Thorin and his mama didn't love him anymore, Thorin had broken his promise to get him, but Thorin wouldn't see it like that, breaking a promise to someone he didn't care about wasn't really breaking a promise at all now was it? Fíli wiped the tears that had started streaming down his face away. He thought back to the choices Drégo had given him:live unloved forever, or leave and never come back. Fíli still wasn't sure what to do, how was he supposed to know what would be best? He placed his toy on the shelf, wiped his faced dry and followed Bofur out to the front of the shop miserably.

When he got out the front he saw Bofur and Fréya waiting for him. Bofur couldn't help but grin at the misery on the dwarflings face. "Don't despair little one, you will get your toy tomorrow then you can show it off to everyone!" He said, not understanding the real reason for Fíli's mood change. He wrapped Fíli in a tight hug, followed by a pat on the head.

"See you tomorrow!" Bofur said with a chuckle watching the dwarfling and dwarrowdam leave the shop.

Fíli wondered miserably if he'd ever see the toymaker again. Failures didn't get nice things or friends.

On the walk home Fíli stayed quiet, trying to figure out what he should do when they came across a friend of Fréya's working on a large flower bed that weaved in and out of the trees on the side of town.

"Fíli, why don't you pick some flowers for your mama? I'm sure she'd love them from her special boy!" Fréya said with a smile "I'll ask for some extra special ones as well ok."

Fíli nodded in reply and went towards the trees trying to find his mama's favourite flowers before stopping suddenly and looking around. Fréya was busy talking and neither dwarf was looking in his direction. He could see a route to the town walls, and knew one of his secret tunnels were nearby, it was one of the few that only he knew about. His answer to his problem was as clear as if someone had told him outright: leave and never come back.

Fíli looked around one last time and ducked behind a tree, then quietly as a mouse he snuck towards the wall and his new life. As he reached the tunnel he turned to face the town one last time and whispered

"Bye-bye mama and Unca Thowin, I wuvs you." And with that Fíli disappeared.


	4. Lost and found

**Hey hey everybody! So I'm a bit nervous about this chapter as the two new characters are essential for this story, so PLEASE accept them! Besides they're not focused on enough in LOTR so I thought I'd give them a bit of book time :) **

**Special mention to DarylDixon'sgirl1985, PopsShows23, Mira Meliandra, Lakota1172, Ozlex, Bluestarshine, Syblime, Aranel Mereneth, GregsMadHatter, 123petmaster, MotherMountain, SelkieShore and all the guests for all their wonderful reviews! You guys have definitely made this story worthwhile writing! Hopefully I don't disappoint with the remaining chapters!**

**I realise I probably should have written this on all the chapters so will go add it to them now: as much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien.**

**The music for this chapter, the extended track of Mirkwood from the DOS soundtrack (yup I know, still haven't managed to move away from it...)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Fíli slipped out the tunnel and ran towards a small clearing of trees that would allow him to follow the path from the town safely without being spotted. As soon as he reached the clearing he couldn't help but sink to his knees and cry. Drégo had spoken the truth, everything he thought he had known, and everything he had believed, had all been a lie.

And what would a five-year old dwarfling know about surviving in the wilds? Fíli knew he'd be lucky to survive a few days but there were always carts coming and going from the town, maybe he could find someone to take him in, someone who might eventually, truly love him.

With that in mind, Fíli, son of Dís, daughter of Thraín turned his back on his home for the last time and headed away from Ered Luin.

Fíli hadn't been walking for very long; he'd re-joined the path at this stage as it was more comfortable to walk on in bare feet, tears still falling down his face accompanied by the occasional sob when he heard voices arguing up ahead. Fíli looked from side to side before dashing off the path to his left to allow these people to pass.

"I still don't understand why we're here Elladan. I know Ada is all about trying to make peace with the dwarves, but he sent us specifically to Ered Luin first? Home of Thorin Oakenshield: the-dwarf-who-hates-elves-with-a-passion Thorin Oakenshield? What prank was it that we pulled that he would want us killed for?!" Said one of the voices that was getting closer to Fíli.

"Elrohir, this isn't a death sentence! So quit making it sound so! I agree this is a hopeless task, but we have to try, perhaps he will be more forgiving when he learns that we are not from the Woodland Realm. And if we cannot convince him, perhaps one of his closer advisors who will take our peace offering more seriously can be a bird in his ear to convince him not all elves betrayed him. Besides, you can't tell me you would rather be at home right now, not after our last stunt; I wouldn't be surprised if Ada IS hoping to see us beaten half to death."

There was laughter following this last comment before it was cut short when they heard muffled sobbing in the forest.

Whilst Fíli had waited for the two men to pass he couldn't help feeling alone and unloved in this huge area, with no-one there to kiss him goodnight or offer him a loving smile and these thoughts caused him to cry again. He'd tried his best to muffle it but it attracted the attention of the men anyway.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other in puzzlement then back towards the bush.

"Hello there? Are you alright?" Elrohir asked gently. He walked towards the bush only to jump back in surprise when a small child with golden hair dashed forwards and away from them, running as fast as his legs would carry him.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other in bewilderment, then at the child before dashing after it. "Wait! Come back!" They yelled.

Longer legs are always an advantage in a chase, as are eyes not swimming in tears that blur your vision. Elladan and Elrohir gained on Fíli easily, and in fact they had to leap over him when he went sprawling as he missed seeing the tree root in the path due to his blurry vision. Elladan and Elrohir wheeled around and crouched next to the dwarfling who was yet to move.

"Are you ok little one?" Elladan asked, tentatively reaching out to touch the dwarflings' shoulder. Fíli lurched backwards into a sitting position at the contact and looked at Elladan and Elrohir in fear.

Fíli looked the two men over then realised in surprise that 'men' wasn't right. "Are you ewves?" He asked sounding surprised but looking terrified at the same time.

"Yes mellon-nín, we are. Tell us, why do you run? And not in the direction of your home either. Are you in trouble or do you run in fear? Someone is going to miss you soon." Elladan asked kindly, offering a hand to the dwarfling to help him stand.

Once Fíli was standing he shook his head "M'not in twouble. And nobody wiwll miss me, I wants to find a new home, not here, nobody wants me anymowe." Misery coloured his tone and neither elf missed it. Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other, then to the dwarfling that was staring at the ground, scuffing his foot slightly.

"What is your name?" Elrohir asked, looking at the dwarfling curiously, an unwanted dwarfling was news to him and Elladan, they had always been told that dwarves look after their own no matter what, so why would this one be treated any different?

"Fíli" Fíli said quietly, still not meeting either elf's eye. He'd always been told that elves were a horrid race, that they were the reason Thorin had been forced to find his people a new home after Erebor. _Thorin_ Fíli remembered; well if Thorin had lied about loving Fíli, maybe he had lied about how bad elves really were. With that thought Fíli looked at both elves and asked quietly "who're you?"

"I am Elladan, son of Lord Elrond of Rivendell, and this is my twin brother, Elrohir." Both elves bowed to Fíli and upon straightening they discovered Fíli had taken off down the road again, the sound of crying floating back to their sharp ears.

The twins looked at each other _"let's follow him and see where he goes" _Elrohir thought

"_Aye, let's let him stop himself, clearly something is upsetting him and I feel uncomfortable leaving him alone out here. Besides, he's heading for our campsite, perhaps we can convince him to stay with us a while."_ Elladan thought in reply to his brother. And so Elladan and Elrohir took after the dwarfling, not wanting to lose him to sinking sun.

* * *

"Fíli! For Mahal's sake! Where are you? This is no longer funny it's time for us to go! What do you think Thorin will say if I tell him you decided to run off for a bit and had me worrying?" Fréya yelled desperately. She had been talking to her friend for about 10 minutes, and had then gone to pick some of the nicest flowers there that her friend was showing her a bit further along. It was only when she went to show Fíli the flowers they would take to Dís the next day that she noticed Fíli's absence, that in itself was half an hour ago.

Fréya spotted her friend in the tree's further down, for she was searching for the missing dwarfling also. "Anything?!" she yelled, panic tinging her voice.

"Nothing! I'm sorry Fréya, it's like he's vanished into thin air!" Was the reply that floated through the orchard.

Fréya grasped at her hair in horror. Where could Fíli have gotten to in 40 minutes? And why would he just run off? He'd never done something like this to her before!

"Who has vanished into thin air?" Asked a voice behind Fréya making her jump in fright and spin around.

"Balin!" Fréya yelped, grasping at her chest to try and slow her breathing.

Balin looked at her apologetically before repeating his question "Who has vanished into thin air Fréya?"

Fréya looked at Balin uncertainly, not sure whether she should tell him about Fíli's disappearing trick or try to brush him off and handle her search alone. She decided that having an extra, more experienced set of eyes wouldn't hurt. "It's Fíli, master Balin. We stopped to pick flowers for him to give to Dís, however when I wasn't looking he gave me the slip, and he isn't responding to any of my calls. I'm worried Balin, I keep thinking something's happened to him."

Balin frowned in concern; he knew Fíli wouldn't disappear without a good reason. "How long has he been missing? Perhaps he is just playing hide-and-seek? Or does he know Dís has gone into labour?"

Fréya shook her head before pausing in surprise "How did you know of Dís? And no, it's not a game of hide-and-seek although I wish it was, he's been gone for just under an hour, and Fíli is yet to know of the arrival of his sibling, Thorin asked that we keep him oblivious until the baby is here." Fréya sunk to her knees and clutched at her head, she just couldn't shake the bad feeling that the reason Fíli wasn't responding was because something had happened to her little shining light.

Balin clasped the dwarrowdams shoulder gently "go to his home Fréya and wait for him there. Perhaps he's already there, or he will turn up there soon enough when it's dinner time. I will go around town and have a look for him before heading to the Healing House. If you wish it, I will tell Thorin that Fíli has, er, wandered off."

Fréya peered up at Balin "thank you, master Balin, you have no idea how much I appreciate your help. But please do not tell Thorin, he has enough to worry about right now without my misplacement of one dwarfling" Fréya let out a small chuckle. "You are probably right as usual anyway; if he's not home already his stomach will drag him there. If I find him I'll be sure to let you know." She took the hand that Balin offered to her and stood up, then went to her friend to tell her to stop looking and headed off in the direction of Fíli's home, praying that it would be occupied by a certain dwarfling when she got there.

"_Please Fíli, be there when I arrive."_ Fréya thought to herself desperately.


	5. Friends of a different kind

**Hey hey everybody. Thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter! So glad you all liked my addition of the twins, I've really enjoyed writing them! Hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think!**

* * *

Elladan and Elrohir kept a slight distance between them and the fleeing child. They didn't want to spook the dwarfling anymore than what he already was, but they wanted to be close enough so that should he fall again, or perhaps something darker was to show itself, they'd quickly be able to protect him from harm.

It wasn't long after Fíli had taken off that he started to tire. Elladan and Elrohir saw he was slowing down, so they adjusted their strides to a walking pace until Fíli came to a complete stop, with his shoulders sagging and his head angled at the ground from exhaustion. Elladan and Elrohir crouched in front of the dwarfling.

"Mellon-nín, we are not sure what we said that upset you, but we are sorry. Would you come with us to our campsite, just so you can rest for a while, and we can clean you up?" Elladan asked kindly.

Fíli looked up at the two elves curiously "what does m-m-mewonin mean?" he asked, his tongue stumbling over the new word in an attempt to form it like they had.

"Mellon-nín? It means 'my friend' little one, or if you just need to say 'friend' then the word you use is 'Mellon'." Elrohir said with a smile, this dwarfling, despite his grief was somehow curious about the pair of them.

"You are my m-m-mewonin's?" Fíli asked, still struggling to form the word.

"Yes," Elrohir said with a gentle laugh, whilst Elladan smiled next to him "we are your mellon's. Please, will you come back to our campsite? It's not far from here, just around the corner, down a small slope and on the field by the trees."

Fíli nodded whilst mouthing his new word to himself, it felt funny trying to say it, but he was determined to get it right.

After a short walk Fíli spotted the area where the two elves were camping, there was a small fire pit near the trees, and two horses stood grazing nearby.

"Elrohir why don't you fetch the packs so we can have something comfortable to sit on and can start the fire." Elladan instructed whilst guiding Fíli towards the fire pit. Elrohir nodded at his brother and went over to one of the trees. He glanced at Fíli and noticed the dwarfling was watching him with interest, so he grinned at the child, looked up the tree and tensed his legs, and leapt onto the lowest branches, quickly disappearing from sight as he climbed higher.

Fíli's mouth dropped open at the sight, and not ten seconds later Elrohir was back on solid ground at the base of the tree, clutching two packs in his hands smiling at him again. Elrohir passed his brother his pack and they went about setting their campsite up, while Fíli sat on a small rock nearby watching them with curiosity and hugging himself trying to stay warm.

In no time at all there was a fire merrily crackling away in the fire pit, and Fíli was seated on Elladan's bedroll near it to stay warm. During the setup of the camp the elves had been talking in Elvish too quickly for Fíli to even make out a word, but he watched their graceful movements with awe. He'd always been told that elves were a cruel people, too focused on gems and power to care much for others or the world around them. But watching Elladan and Elrohir made Fíli wonder if that was true, these two were focused on him rather than themselves and would check occasionally to make sure he was warm and comfortable and always offered him a warm smile when they looked at him. Fíli decided he liked these two elves, he liked them a lot.

Once the campsite was set up Elrohir sat down on his bedroll that he had set up near Fíli and Elladan sat next to Fíli with a couple of cloths and a bowl of water. Turning to face the dwarfling Elladan said with a smile "here's some water so you can clean yourself and then we can see the little dwarfling hiding underneath all this dust! Would you like to do it or would you rather I did?"

Fíli looked at Elladan shyly. "I dunna how ta do it" he said quietly.

Elladan grinned at him and picked up the cloth "That's alright mellon, I'll do it for you, but first, let's see if you've got any scrapes or bruises that might need looking at. Can you stand for a moment?" Fíli climbed to his feet and allowed the elves to look him over. All up he had six scrapes that were bleeding lightly, and all gained from his fall, but because of the adrenaline that had been in his system during his running he hadn't noticed any pain when it happened. Now that Fíli was coming down from his adrenaline high, he was definitely beginning to feel them.

"Ow" said Fíli in surprise, looking at the ones on his hands, knees and the two rather large ones on his abdomen.

"Don't worry; we'll get them cleaned out ok?" Elladan said gently. They got Fíli to remove his shirt and had him lay down so they could clean his scrapes easily. Elladan and Elrohir set about cleaning his wounds quickly but gently, trying to avoid as much pain for the dwarfling as possible. When the wounds and his face were clean Elrohir asked his brother something in Elvish and Elladan nodded in reply with a smile.

"Fíli, would you like to see something cool?" Elrohir asked setting his cloth aside and looking at the dwarfling with a grin.

Fíli looked at him curiously before nodding.

"Great! Now the first thing you need to know is that not all elves can do this, in fact there are only a few in Middle Earth who have this ability. The reason we can," Elrohir motioned between himself and Elladan who was rinsing out his cloth "is because our father is one of the most powerful elves in the land." Elrohir was talking with a smile on his face.

"Do what?" Fíli asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

"Elves can only remove poisons from a person, or delay their effects, they can't actually heal injuries, save for a few of us." To demonstrate, Elrohir took Fíli's hand and placed his hand over the graze. Fíli gasped in pain as he felt a slight burning sensation where his graze was, and when Elrohir removed his hand a patch of pink skin was the only proof an injury had been there.

"It does hurt a little bit unfortunately." Elrohir said to Fíli. He was met with wide eyes and a mouth that was slightly agape.

"You maked it betta!" Fíli said in awe and the brothers grinned back at him. They made short work of his other grazes, each time Fíli winced when he felt the burning sensation, but he didn't cry out again. When they finished, they sat side by side watching as Fíli sat there running his hand over the fresh patches of skin. He looked up with a grin and without warning threw his arms around their waists and hugged them tightly.

"Fankyou!" He said delightedly looking up into their surprised faces. They placed an arm each on his back and patted him hesitantly and looked at each other in surprise, they certainly hadn't expected that.

Once Fíli was finished with his hug he sat back on the bedroll and put his shirt back on. Whilst he was pulling the shirt over his head he missed the nudge that Elrohir gave his brother with a nod at Fíli.

Elladan sighed and nodded. Once Fíli was re-dressed and sitting quietly he spoke up.

"Fíli, I need to ask you something ok?" He waited until Fíli nodded until he carried on. "Elrohir and I want to know why you are running from Ered Luin, what has happened that would make you so upset?

Fíli suddenly looked miserable, with his head bowed he peered up at the elves through his eyelashes and the hair that had moved in front of his face. He didn't want to think about his mummy, or his uncle, or Drégo, or the sibling that was replacing him. When he saw the elves looking at him expectantly he sighed. "If I tewll you, wiwll you hewp me?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course" Elrohir said immediately and Elladan nodded, they doubted it was that bad, his mother had probably told him off for breaking something and for some reason had misinterpreted what his mother was saying so he thought she didn't want him anymore.

Fíli sighed and tried to think of what to say, but the more he thought about what had happened today, the more upset he became to the point where everything came rushing out.

"Unca tooked me to the toyshop and pwomised to pick me up, then Dwégo towd me that dwarves only have one child cause they should be evewyfing they wanted, and if they have annover baby it's cause the fiwst one is a disappointment, and mama is having annover baby cause she don't wove me anymore and wants a new child, and I fouwht Dwégo was lying but then Fwéya came to pick me up, and I knew Dwégo wasn't lying cause if Unca weally woved me he woulda kept his pwomise but he didn't so I did what Dwégo said to and I left cause I don wanna be a spare, I wanna mama who wiwll wove me so I 'cided to wun away and then you found me." The dwarfling finished in a gasp, tears pouring down his cheeks and Elladan scooped him up and held him tightly whilst he sobbed.

"_El, I thought the reason for there being so few dwarfling's was because it was difficult for a female dwarf to carry children, not this whole disappointment thing?" _Elrohir thought to his brother in alarm.

Elladan had placed his chin on the dwarfling's head and was rocking the child gently, trying to stop the crying; he hadn't done much of this before but knew it wasn't too hard. He looked at his brother out of the corner of his eyes. _"Your right Roh, that's the only reason dwarfling's are so rare, not because of them being a disappointment. I remember father saying in one of our lessons that if the dwarves could craft their children from the earth than there would be an abundance of dwarves and no one would know where to put them all." _Elrohir managed to avoid snorting at this particular comment.

Once Fíli's crying had become hiccups Elladan lifted his head and rearranged Fíli in a seated position in his lap. "Fíli who exactly is this Drégo? The one who told you about this disappointment thing?"

Fíli's was still shaking from his crying but managed to shrug his shoulders "A boy from town." He mumbled.

"Fíli, is the reason you ran from us earlier because we said we're brothers? And it made you think about your own sibling?" Elrohir asked and received a nod in reply. Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other briefly then back at Fíli.

"Fíli, I'm going to tell you what we know about dwarves alright? Especially where children are concerned and I want you to listen closely ok?" Elladan said firmly. When Fíli nodded he began.

"You need to understand first and foremost that no dwarf child is a disappointment to their parents, no matter what they end up becoming. If anything, dwarfling's are extremely special to your people because you are so rare. Usually dwarf women are very hard to come by, and carrying a baby is even harder, for most women their bodies are only really able to cope with a few, but I promise you, if they could have hundreds then they would. Children are like a treasure, and they cannot help but wanting to surround themselves with the most precious things they could possibly have. In fact throughout Middle Earth and all its races parents will give their children siblings not because they want to replace that child but because they want to give you the best gift you could ever receive, a best friend."

Elrohir glanced at his brother fondly before looking back at Fíli who was still looking at him sadly. "Elrohir is my twin brother Fíli, but to me he's more than that, he's my best friend, the one I will defend with my life without a thought for myself, my partner in crime, an ear to whisper in, and when we were younger a step to stand on to reach the sweets, and I don't know what I'd do without him. And it will be the same for you, I promise. A sibling is not a burden, but rather an extension of you, someone you can always count on to be there. Do you understand now? Drégo was lying, Fíli, I'm sure of it. After all, we've been on this earth a lot longer than he has so we should know."

Fíli looked between the brothers then down at his lap. Maybe Elladan was right, maybe his mama didn't want to replace him. But then why did Drégo say all this to him in the first place? "Why would Dwégo lie?" He asked quietly.

"Some people can be cruel for no reason Fíli, but generally people will say hurtful things because of something that has happened to them." Elrohir said with a shrug.

Fíli thought about this for a moment, but his mind kept going back to his mother and Uncle. If they truly loved him then Thorin wouldn't have broken his promise to Fíli to pick him up, and he and his mama wouldn't have become distant with him when his father had died. "They don't wove me" Fíli said quietly "If they woved me then Unca woulda picked me up wike he pwomised and mama woulda kept woving me the same after daddy died, but they didn't." A stray tear rolled down Fíli's cheek, and Elladan brushed it away with his thumb.

"_I don't think we're going to change his mind El,"_ thought Elrohir sadly to his brother, his eyes never leaving the dwarfling's face.

Fíli didn't want to go back to Ered Luin, didn't want to go back to a home where he wasn't loved. He wanted to go with someone nice who would look after him and love him forever. "Can I come wive with you?" Fíli asked hesitantly "Can you be my bwothers?"

Elladan and Elrohir's mouths dropped open simultaneously looking at each other in shock. Granted, the night had been throwing interesting things at them but this was downright unexpected.

"_Erm Roh, I don't think Ada will be overly thrilled with us bringing a dwarfling home from Ered Luin, I mean I know he wanted us to make friends and connections and all that, but I don't think he meant like this…" _Elladan thought startled.

"_Agreed, although look at him the poor thing. Perhaps saying no right now isn't the best idea. The sun has well and truly set, perhaps after a good sleep he'll be more willing to go back home tomorrow. Although..." _Elrohir thought, barely managing to contain a grin _"Imagine how cool it would be to have a little brother! I've always wanted one; just imagine the kind of mischief we could get up to with three of us!"_

The silent exchange between the twins only took several seconds so Fíli wasn't left wondering if he'd insulted or upset them.

Elladan stroked Fíli's hair and said gently "why don't we discuss this more tomorrow mellon? The night is upon us and you look tired, it has been a long day for you. Your thoughts will be clearer in the morning and it will give you time to think over what we have told you tonight, ok?"

"M'not tired" Fíli protested weakly with a pout.

Elrohir grinned "well then, have you ever stargazed?" When Fíli shook his head Elrohir continued on "all light is sacred to the Eldar, it is what we elves love best, the stars hold memory, and the light holds hope. Why don't you lie down, and see what shapes you can make out in the stars. It is a game many elves like to play with their children, and we are yet to do it so far from home, perhaps we will see something new tonight. Why don't you tell us what you see?"

Fíli looked excitedly at the twins, perhaps by telling him about an elvish game they were in fact thinking about taking him with them. He lay down and Elladan pulled out his blanket and spread it over the two of them and settled himself next to Fíli, and instinctly Fíli huddled into Elladan's side, Elladan gaining a look of amusement from his brother.

A few minutes and several shapes later Fíli was out to the world, with his thumb in his mouth and tucked securely under Elladans' arm.

"Well dear brother, it seems we are going to be hard done by to return Fíli to his home, it seems he's found you to be a decent bedroll at the very least." Elrohir said with a smirk.

Elladan rolled his eyes "We need to take him into town tomorrow and get him fed, I have a feeling he skipped dinner so he'll be starving come morn. Hopefully there will be someone there who will recognise him and we can hand him over to them, assuming he'll be willing to go. Besides…" Elladan turned his head so he could look at the dwarfling fondly, or his hair as that was all he could see of him from his position on the ground. "If we don't try and return him I fear Ada will be less than unimpressed with the new addition to our family. I don't know about you but I've become rather fond of this one and parting from him is going to be hard enough the way things are at the moment."

"The longer he's with us the harder it will be to say goodbye." Elrohir said, catching his brothers meaning. "Well who knows what tomorrow will bring. Night El." And with that Elrohir huddled under his own blanket.

"Night Roh." Elladan replied, securing the blanket around him and Fíli.

* * *

Further South, just under a day's travel a rider stopped in the middle of the forest where a small campfire was surrounded by a group of 30. On his arrival the camp fell silent.

"Well?" Growled a voice approaching the rider.

"Less than a day my lord. And we will have the safety of the trees throughout. They will not see us approach." Came the guttural hiss of a reply.

A smile spread across the leaders face "This time tomorrow night, we feast on dwarf flesh!" he roared to his companions, and he was answered with cheers.


	6. Waiting and Revelations

**A/N Hello everybody! So what does one do when they want a bit of Fili, Kili and Thorin? Watch Desolation of Smaug for the 7th time the the extended Hobbit of course! :D Anyway I guess this is what you'd call a filler chapter more than anything, but still lots of important stuff and a bit more character development. I've been writing steadily, I'm looking forward to publishing the next chapter, some good stuff with the twins in there and a small nail biter :)**

**Shout out to Kari, Radiation11, girlgeekjf, wrmauney, Syblime, Lakota1172, GregsMadHatter, ****Guests and all my new reviewers and those who have favourited the story! Hopefully I continue to please :)**

**********As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

Fréya sat at the table, her knees refusing to stop bouncing up and down as she waited anxiously for Fíli to return. But the hours ticked by and the sun quickly sank beyond the horizon and still no blonde hair burst through the front door. The tea and dinner that she'd made for herself was now stone cold as she couldn't stomach the thought of eating whilst Fíli was nowhere to be seen, and it had been hours since she'd spoken to Balin.

Fréya was getting to the stage of wanting to rip her hair out from stress, it seemed better than sitting there doing nothing. Before she could entertain the thought the front door opened.

"Fíli?!" Fréya screeched at the darkness outside, her chair clattering to the floor in her haste to stand. It wasn't blonde hair that came through the door however, but rather white hair followed by a concerned face.

"Well considering your cry there, I take it the lad still isn't home?" Balin said as he closed the door and watched as Fréya corrected her chair before falling into it heavily and letting her face fall into her hands.

Fréya shook her head which was still resting on her hands as she spoke. "What do I do Balin?! Why in Mahals name would he run off and stay out all night? He's only 5! What did I say that could have upset him like this?" She looked up at Balin desperately, and he moved around to place a comforting hand on her shoulders.

"Fréya, this is not your fault ok? I do not know what has made him so upset he fears he cannot come home, but I know it is through no fault of your own. The boy loves you to bits my dear, there's nothing you could say that would upset him." Balin said comfortingly.

"It is dark now, however and I have a feeling he won't be returning tonight. I just pray that he's found some place warm to sleep. But you my dear, you need to get some sleep as staying up all night isn't going to bring him home." Balin smiled gently at Fréya as he could see just how worn down the young dwarrowdam was from the last few hours.

"Tomorrow at dawn I will get up and wander round the town and see if I can spot him, I will spend a few hours there and will try and ask without asking if you get my meaning, if anyone has seen him, the fewer number of people that know about Fíli's disappearing act, the less likely Thorin will find out before any solid information is gathered."

Fréya nodded, looking wearily at Balin as he spoke. She knew what he was saying made sense, but she highly doubted whether she'd be able to sleep at all. She rose from her chair slowly and headed to the living room, followed by Balin and she collapsed onto the couch near the fire. She watched Balin go further down the hall and he came back moments later with a spare pillow and blankets.

"Thank you Balin, your kindness is more than I deserve." Fréya said quietly as she took the blanket and pillows off him to make herself a bed on the couch.

Balin shook his head, "nonsense. You don't deserve to be worrying about where the lad has gone and Thorin and Dís will not blame you if they find out he went missing. They know how much you love that boy and they know you've never been careless where he's concerned, so stop beating yourself up over it. He'll come back in his own time when he's good and ready, you'll see." Balin said in a firm but kind tone. He hated seeing Fréya beat herself up over all of this, and he was determined to not let it shake her up so much that she might refuse to look after Fíli ever again.

"Get some rest, I'll stop by in the morning before I go and search for him ok." Balin said taking her shoulders and guiding her till she was lying down on the couch with a blanket pulled around her. "Goodnight Fréya" Balin said gently as he went around and dimmed out all the lights.

"Goodnight Balin" Fréya mumbled back, already lost to sleep.

* * *

As Balin strolled down the path towards his house he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around with his fists raised and a snarl on his face.

"Easy brother, yer more likely to break a bone in yer hand than do me any damage." Dwalin's voice drawled from the shadows in amusement.

"Evening brother" Balin replied in relief lowering his fists and squinting to see his younger brother "and it's not my fault you're as thick as bricks" Balin said with a grin when his brother joined his side.

Dwalin growled something incoherent before replying "I'll take it as a compliment yer swine" making Balin chuckle as they made their way up to their house.

As they entered their house they shirked out of their coats and hung them by the door. Balin looked at his younger brother and said "where have you been tonight?"

"With Thorin" Dwalin replied simply.

"Ah and how has he been since I left? And Dís?" Balin asked as he went to the kitchen to pour himself some ale, with Dwalin following close behind.

When both dwarves were seated with a mug of ale and a plate of food Dwalin looked at his brother. "Oh you know how Thorin is, same as when Dís was pregnant with Fíli: about as nervous as a thief wearing bells approaching Smaug would be." Dwalin said with a grin "some things never change; he didn't stop fidgeting the whole time and almost wore holes into the carpet from his pacing. In the end I had to force him to sit down by threatening him with a sleeping draught from one of the healers if he didn't try and relax." Dwalin took a swig from his mug followed by a hearty bite out of his chicken.

Balin couldn't help but grin either. Thorin had been a right shocker before Fíli was born, he had been so nervous about the new arrival but Balin couldn't blame him. Not only was he getting a nephew and an heir that night, but pregnancy in general was a tricky and complicated business for dwarves, if they weren't careful they could have lost both Dís and Fíli during the birth. However when they'd been told that the birth was a success and both mother and child were resting, Thorin had all but collapsed against Balin and Dwalin in relief, and had to take several moments to compose himself before going in to see them.

When Dwalin had finished his mouthful he continued on, the grin still plastered on his face. "And Dís, well its Dís Balin, fighting fit and ready to throw the healers, Thorin, Mahal and Aüle themselves through the wall if they so much as say a wrong word. In fact Thorin was sent in there at one point to have a few words with her about what she's been saying to some of the healers, they are after all and I quote one of the younger healers 'the ones who are trained to deliver, not her'. Clearly the new ones have forgotten or are too stupid to realise she's done this before and that she knows exactly what she needs. Thorin went in and spoke to her then spoke to the healers and managed to calm the situation down some. Anyway they think the baby will arrive sometime tomorrow morning."

"Poor Oin, Dís must be giving him a headache, assuming he's kept his ear trumpet nearby in order to hear what's being said." Balin said shaking his head with amusement.

Dwalin's smile widened "oh no, Oin has been wise enough to stay away until she's about ready to deliver, he told us that this was good training for the younger healers."

The brothers burst out laughing; trust Oin to find an escape from Dís's wrath, after all he'd suffered enough abuse from her when she was there waiting to have Fíli.

After the laughter died down Dwalin looked at his brother with a small frown. "Where do you get off to today? Thorin said you had been gone an awful long time and it was unlike you to stay away."

Balin grimaced; he'd been hoping to avoid this particular topic of conversation, as he'd decided it was better to be busy out looking for Fíli rather than sitting around and doing nothing. However Balin knew it was no use lying to his brother, Dwalin would have his head if he learnt that Fíli had gone missing and he hadn't told him. Dwalin, the immovable mountain of a dwarf that he was had a soft spot for the golden haired child because just like Balin he was like another Uncle to Fíli.

"Unfortunately brother I got side-tracked on my way back to the Healing House. I ran into Fréya on my way there, she'd gone to pick up Fíli from Bofur's, only there was a slight problem when I saw her: Fíli's disappeared. And before you march out that door…" Balin had to yell at his brother who was on his feet and indeed looked ready to march out the door to tear the town down looking for the lad "I spent all afternoon trying to find him, so you might as well sit back down!" Balin said crossly at his brother who was glaring at him, and Balin waited until Dwalin reluctantly lowered himself back into his chair.

"We believe something has upset him and he's run off, so there's no use trying to find him. No, Thorin doesn't know he's disappeared and I want it to stay that way, you hear me. I'm going out at first light to search for him again, and you will go and be with Thorin as though nothing is amiss. We'll find him brother, don't worry."

Dwalin glared at his brother. Discovering Fíli was missing was the last thing he expected Balin to tell him and it was against the wish of every fibre of his being that he sat there as Balin asked, rather than get out there looking for Fíli. He prayed that Balin was right and that he was just staying with someone else and would go running through the door to his house first thing in the morning begging for forgiveness.

"Are you planning on telling Thorin at all?" Dwalin asked, managing to keep his anger in check.

"If he hasn't turned up by lunch, then yes I will tell him, I just pray the baby has arrived by that stage so Dís will be kept occupied and won't find out."

Dwalin nodded, pleased that his brother had a plan.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.


	7. The paths we tread

**Hello everyone! So, a big chapter for you with several different perspectives at different/same times during the day. Please let me know what you think of this chapter as the pace is starting to pick up and we're getting to some really important stuff in the next few chapters! :) not to build too much anticipation or anything...**

**Special shoutouts to the new followers: xSilversun, LionsChild, GemDragon22, Fangfan1, C.H.W.13, Fire and Ash and the new guests to be reading the story! Also to the current followers/favouriters: LOVE YOU ALL LONG TIME!**

**Also thank you so much everyone for the reviews! They are absolutely INCREDIBLE! I'm consistently surprised and touched by the feedback I'm getting and I'm so glad I decided to go ahead and write/share this with you all! Looking forward to writing more for you all in the future!**

**********As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

The sun climbed over the Blue Mountains and cast its light across the sleepy town of Ered Luin and the field where two elves and a dwarfling were curled up fast asleep. Elrohir stirred and rolled over onto his side to face his brother, and he couldn't help but grin at the sight before him. Elladan was lying on his side, his head resting on his right arm which was stretched out above him as a pillow, and his left arm wrapped protectively around Fíli who was snuggled into his side with his thumb in his mouth and an arm holding onto Elladan's waist. Elrohir couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips as he wished that he had something to capture this moment, so at the very least he could show his brother how cute he looked.

Elrohirs' chuckle was enough to wake his twin. Elladans' closed eyes scrunched and opened slowly to look at him.

"_And what at this time of the morning could you possibly find so amusing brother?_" Elladan thought with annoyance.

"_Just how incredibly cute you look protecting a child whilst you sleep_" Elrohir thought back with a grin on his face.

Elladan looked down to the sleeping dwarfling and back to his brother with a smile._ "Oh shut up. We need to get moving as he's probably starving and we should return him if we want to finish what father sent us to do."_

Elrohir stood first as his brother went to wake Fíli. Whilst he was stretching he sniffed at the air and looked around. It was extremely quiet this morning, in fact there wasn't a sound coming from any birds or insects, the only noises that occasionally floated across the field were noises from the waking town, and the noises from the trees as the leaves moved in the breeze. The air itself smelt heavy and Elrohir could smell the storm that was moving in. He said as much to Elladan.

"You're right it's very eerie this morning. That storm's on its way, I reckon it'll be here by tonight so we might need to take our stuff with us in the afternoon and look for a room for the rest of our stay." Elladan replied. He was already packing away his belongings as Fíli had headed off to the nearest tree to relieve himself.

Elladan and Elrohir made short work of packing up the campsite, and Elrohir went and stashed their packs in the trees so they could move around more freely in the town. The twins had agreed to collect them once they had found who Fíli belonged to, hoping that the storm would hold off until then.

Fíli came back just as Elrohir jumped out of the tree and smiled shyly at the twins as he sat on the ground near the burnt out fire pit.

"How are you feeling this morning mellon?" Elrohir asked the dwarfling with a grin and patting the two horses next to the trees.

"Hungwy, mewonin." Fíli replied with a smile. He liked his new word, and he knew it would be important when he went to live with Elladan and Elrohir.

The twins grinned at him for remembering the word and what it meant.

"Would I be right in guessing that someone didn't get to eat their dinner last night?" Elladan asked knowing full well what the answer would be, and got a sheepish smile and nod from the dwarfling making him chuckle.

"Well then, first things first this morning, let's head into town and get some food. Not many people will be awake at the tavern so we should get a nice meal with the best bits. How does that sound?"

Fíli's reply came not in a nod or words, but in an extremely loud rumble from his stomach, which they all looked at in surprise.

"Well you got your answer El" Elrohir said with a grin. "Come on Fíli! Let's find some food." He extended his hand to the dwarfling who held it tightly, and then Fíli reached around and grabbed Elladan's hand with his free one.

And so the dwarfling walked hand in hand with the two elves back to Ered Luin.

* * *

Balin finished off his breakfast with haste. Dwalin had just left for the Healing House to visit Thorin and take him some food, and Balin knew he needed to get a move on if he was to find Fíli before lunch as he REALLY didn't want to have to tell Thorin his nephew had disappeared.

He swallowed the last of his scone, pulled on his boots and hurried out the door pulling his jacket on as he did so as he had noticed it was rather cool out this morning. He looked left and right, trying to determine where to start first: should he start at the dwarven end of town or the human end? _"I'll go see Fréya, then I'll start at the toyshop, if Fíli wanted somewhere to hide I'm sure Bofur wouldn't have turned him away."_ And with that thought Balin hurried off, determined to locate the dwarfling.

* * *

Dwalin pushed the main door to the Healing House open and walked into the waiting room looking around for the dark headed dwarf he'd known all his life, only to find to his surprise he wasn't there.

"Oi you," Dwalin said grabbing the arm of the closest healer and spinning him around. "Where's Thorin? Has the baby arrived?"

The healer shrugged out of Dwalin's ridiculously strong grip. "First door on the left, couldn' 'ave the King sleepin' on a chair out here when we 'ave plenny beds free." He said with a glare and walked off.

Dwalin hurried to the room he'd been told and opened the door without bothering to knock. He realised in hindsight that Thorin probably would've appreciated the gesture and noted to remember that next time, but luckily for him there was nothing that could've embarrassed either of them. Thorin was pacing the room, and Dwalin could tell he hadn't slept much, if anything really. Dwalin felt the same; he'd been tossing and turning in fear over Fíli's disappearance, and praying to anyone who would listen that he'd suddenly appear at his house. Remembering his promise to Balin to not say anything, he shut the door with a snap which made his friend spin around in surprise.

Thorin had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't heard the door open, and missing hearing his friend come in meant that he truly was distracted, after all Dwalin was an incredibly loud dwarf.

"Dwalin! How long have you been there?!" Thorin said in surprise.

"Only just got 'ere" Dwalin replied, moving to lean against the wall after he set the plate of food down on the bed. "How are yer? Yer look exhausted."

Thorin ran a hand across his face and let it fall to his side looking at Dwalin wearily. "I feel it. I'm worried Dwalin, they keep telling me Dís is fine but she's been in there for so long, and they haven't let me back in since I spoke to her yesterday. I think I might…"

Whatever Thorin had been thinking Dwalin never found out for at that point the door burst open and Oin appeared.

"Oin!" Thorin and Dwalin yelled in unison

"She's getting close! Not too much longer now lads!" The old healer half shouted at them before disappearing, slamming the door shut behind him.

Thorin and Dwalin grinned at each other, it was almost time.

"I'll go find Balin, he won't be too far from here." Dwalin said to Thorin, clapping him on the shoulder before rushing out of the room leaving Thorin to eat his food and resume his pacing.

* * *

The trio approached the gates of the city in no time at all; however it was long enough to teach Fíli some more Elvish. The words they were in the process of teaching Fíli were 'Hannon Le', which Fíli learnt meant 'thank you'.

As they passed through the gate a human guard was watching them curiously and Fíli waved at him. "Hannonee!" he said with a huge grin.

The twins couldn't contain their own grins "Well done Fíli! Keep practising that and we'll teach you another one soon ok?"

The group had walked through the city gates without issue aside from the curious look and looked around to see if there were any dwarves nearby that they could walk Fíli past, hoping someone would recognise him. Unfortunately there was hardly anybody about at that time of the morning.

"The Lone Warrior huh?" Elrohir said looking at the sign to the tavern above him "Alright Fíli, we'll stop in here for breakfast eh?" Elrohir said as they walked towards the tavern.

Fíli nodded eagerly, he was well and truly hungry by now and just wanted food.

Elrohir held the door open and Fíli hurried inside, drawn by the smell of fresh bread. Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other amused and followed him inside, allowing the door to swing shut.

* * *

Balin waved to Bofur as he left the toyshop and sighed as soon as he had his back to the door. He'd managed to ask Bofur without causing concern if he'd seen Fíli that morning.

"I haven't seen the lad since yesterday when he got picked up. Everything alright Balin?" Bofur had asked with a slight frown.

Balin had told the toymaker that he'd stopped by to see Fíli earlier that morning and tell him Thorin would be home in the afternoon, but both he and Fréya had already left for the day so he was trying to find the pair of them to make sure he was ready to visit Dís when Thorin picked him up. Bofur relaxed and told Balin he'd keep an eye out for the pair and pass on the message if he saw them, especially as Fíli was meant to be picking up his toy sometime that day.

As Balin walked away from the toyshop he placed a hand on his forehead. Perhaps he should look in the human end of town, not that there was a divide mind you, but that end happened to be the area where most of the Men lived and owned businesses. Balin wasn't really sure what he was expecting to find, he highly doubted Fíli would go down that end as no-one had ever taken him there before, and he was unlikely to go somewhere he didn't know, even to hide.

With his mind made up Balin headed off towards the other end of town.

* * *

Dwalin looked around in annoyance. Surely his brother hadn't gone too far, Ered Luin wasn't a huge place after all, sure strangers tended to get lost, but it wasn't as big as what Erebor had been where finding someone would generally take hours.

Then again Dwalin had only just stepped outside of the Healing House, so maybe he was being a bit overdramatic. However he was desperate to find his brother before the baby arrived, as he knew Dís and Thorin would have their heads if they weren't there when they could see the baby for the first time.

"Dwalin!" A voice off to his right called.

Dwalin looked at the approaching figure "Gloin! How are yer? Wha' can I do for ye?"

Gloin grinned as he stopped near Dwalin "Nothing for me my friend, but you look a little… annoyed… is probably the best word to use."

"I need to find Balin, but I wouldn' have a clue as to where 'es gone, he went lookin' for F… er someone." Dwalin said, quickly correcting himself.

"Well then whoever he's looking for must be in the front of town, I saw him walking towards the gate not 10 minutes ago." Gloin said nodding in the direction he'd just come from.

Dwalin clapped Gloin on the shoulder in thanks and hurried off to find his brother.

* * *

Balin stood in the centre of town near the entrance and looked around. On his right he had the main gate where there were a couple of guards milling about, in front of him past the large wishing pool and market stalls were streets that houses, shops and a forge were connected to, behind him was exactly the same, and on his left were a couple of stalls, the Lone Warrior tavern, several inns and a couple of stables next to it for visitors to rest their horses during their stay.

"Why did I even bother coming here?" Balin wondered aloud, "why on earth would Fíli come here of all places?" He looked to his left when the door to the Lone Warrior swung open as a local lad walked in to start his shift, soft voices floating out of the usually noisy building.

Balin decided to head to the main gate to ask if they'd seen a blonde dwarfling wandering around when a hand landed on his shoulder making him spin around in fright.

"Dwalin! What on earth are you doing here? Have you found him?"

Dwalin shook his head at his brother "It's Dís Balin; Oin said it's almost time."

Balin's mouth fell open slightly in surprise, it was finally time for another Durin to join them in the world. He nodded at his brother with a smile on his face and the pair hurried towards the Healing House, the thoughts of trying to find Fíli forgotten for the time being.

* * *

Elrohir looked around the tavern with curiosity. They had taken seats near the back of the building to sit close to the fire, and he and his brother were sitting next to each other with their backs to everyone in order to give Fíli the comfier seat. Unfortunately they had realised too late that by doing so they were blocking everyone from the young dwarfling they were trying to show, and there was no coaxing Fíli out of his seat when he sat down. The two elves had looked at each other in defeat before taking their seats in front of him.

"So Fíli, the food shouldn't be too much longer, but while we're waiting, what does Mellon-nín mean?" Elladan asked the blonde haired dwarfling, drawing Elrohir's attention back to his table.

"My fwend, and mewon just means fwend." Fíli said proudly.

Elrohir ruffled the dwarfling's hair. "And Hannon le?"

"Fank you!" Fíli said, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Well done Fíli! At this rate father will HAVE to take you in! He wouldn't turn away a dwarfling who can say thank you in Elvish!" Elladan said with a grin, and Fíli responded in kind with a dazzling smile.

Elladan knews it was unfair to get Fíli's hopes up about joining them, especially as they were planning on returning him to his family as soon as possible, but he couldn't stop thinking about possibly getting a new little brother.

"What does Le Abdollen mean?" Elrohir shot at the dwarfling with a smile.

There was a pause whilst Fíli thought about it; they'd only just taught him this, and he had been having problems trying to pronounce Abdollen at all.

Just then the waiter came over and placed three plates of food on the table when Fíli suddenly remembered the meaning.

"Yoaw late!" Fíli shouted with glee, causing the waiter to look at him slightly offended, which sent the two elves into fits of laughter as they tried to choke out a thanks and an apology to the waiter. Fíli looked at the waiter with a grin "Hannonee!" he said trying his hardest to sound serious but failing miserably.

"Thank you for the food, and we apologise for his outburst, we're currently teaching him some new words in Elvish, the translation was just bad timing on his part." Elladan said managing to control his laughter whilst his brother was still chuckling away.

"Oh, well enjoy the meal." The waiter said with a small yet still slightly puzzled smile before bustling off to another table to take an order.

"Nice one Fíli!" Elrohir said with a grin at the dwarfling who had already started tucking into his rather large meal to try and sate his starving stomach.

Fíli just grinned back at his new friends and potential brothers. Finally he felt that he might belong with them.

* * *

Thorin's pacing had increased in intensity, he knew he was probably creating a permanent path in the carpet, and realised he might have to arrange for a replacement to be brought in. The door burst open and he swung around as he refused to be taken by surprise again. Dwalin and Balin walked into the room, the only important question clear on their faces.

"No news yet." Thorin said with a sigh and resumed his pacing.

Balin looked at his weary friend before standing in his path. When Thorin was face to face with him Balin put his hands on his shoulders and guided him over to the bed.

"Thorin, you're exhausted. You need to sit down and relax; everything will be fine, just like last time. Dís is one of the strongest dwarrowdams I've ever met. When she finds out how much worrying you've been doing she'll have your head for worrying and ours for not calming you down." Balin pushed on Thorin's shoulders until he was sitting on his bed. Balin pulled the plate of food towards his friend and put it on his lap.

"Eat, and I will not be taking no for an answer you hear?" Balin said firmly.

With a defeated sigh Thorin made himself more comfortable on the bed and picked up some of the chicken on the plate, realising for the first time just how hungry he was.

Dwalin watched his friend intently, he could tell that Thorin was still stressed and would only relax when Oin told them that both mother and child were well. Then once Thorin had met his nephew or niece and spent some time with Dís he would go home, get changed and get Fíli so…. _Fíli._ Dwalin winced. How could he have forgotten the reason for his fears so easily? They still hadn't found him and now neither of them could leave without making Thorin suspicious.

"Balin, I need ta talk to yer outside." Dwalin said in a casual tone, yet both Balin and Thorin looked at him in surprise.

"Can you not talk in here?" Thorin said with a frown at his friend and a mouthful of chicken, blast the courtesy of not talking with your mouth full.

"Sorry lad, family business, it'll only take a moment." Dwalin said looking at his friend apologetically.

Thorin's frown remained for a second more before he shrugged. As close as he was with Balin and Dwalin, Thorin knew that there were just some things that weren't for him to know, just as it was for them about his life. It was a privacy that was rarely called upon between the three of them, yet it was a privacy he knew to respect all the same.

Balin looked at his brother with a small frown and followed him out of the room. Dwalin led him outside, determined for Thorin not to hear any of their conversation.

"What it is?" Balin asked with a frown as soon as Dwalin was satisfied with the distance between them and Thorin.

"Fíli, Balin. We still haven't found Fíli." Dwalin said in a lowered voice.

Balin squeezed his eyes shut. How could he have forgotten about the lad? He sighed and looked at his brother. "There's nothing we can do now, we can't leave Thorin by himself. We just have to pray that Fíli is there when he goes home. When Thorin does head home we'll go with him so that Fréya doesn't get the blame for not saying anything if he's not there."

Dwalin nodded, it was about all they could do now without dragging Thorin away from Dís when he badly needed to be here. And Thorin was likely to rip the town apart looking for Fíli if he found out now, not that he wouldn't when he found out later of course.

The two brothers walked back inside to Thorin's room to wait for the news, both praying that Dís and the baby would be fine, and that Fíli had returned home by now.

* * *

Fréya stretched and rolled over to get more comfortable, only to find herself falling smack onto the floor. Still half asleep Fréya opened her eyes in surprise. When had her bed shrunk? It was only after sitting there for a few moments staring at the ceiling in confusion that the memories of the day before came crashing back making her mouth fall open in horror.

"Fíli?! Fíli are you here?" Fréya called urgently, jumping to her feet and racing to his room. How on earth had she slept all night? When she arrived at Fíli's room she flung the door open, only to feel her heart sink, his bed was as cold and empty as it had been when she first got home.

With a sigh Fréya walked back to the kitchen in order to prepare some tea and a plate of food. She was starving and knew that she'd need to keep up her energy if she was to go and search for him soon. When she arrived in the kitchen she paused in surprise. There, sitting folded on the table was a note. It certainly hadn't been there when she arrived last night, so she dashed forwards and opened it.

_Fréya, I thought it best not to wake you as you looked like you needed the sleep. I am going to start looking for him at the Toyshop, stay here in case he comes back. Don't worry, we'll find him. B_

"Balin." Fréya said with a sigh. Hopefully her friend would have some luck in finding him. She walked to the front door and stepped outside to take in a breath of fresh air. She looked up and noticed that, although it turned out she'd slept in till near midday, the sky was now an ugly shade of grey. The storm was rolling in and it was rolling in fast. Yet there was no sign of the storm having any intention to start, it just decided to move in early and linger until it was ready to unleash itself.

"I hope Fíli doesn't get caught out in this." Fréya muttered to herself before walking back in and shutting the door behind her so she could take a seat in the kitchen and wait for Fíli come home.


	8. The Sun and the Moon

**Hello everyone! So had fun writing this chapter and how Thorin reacted in two separate yet very familiar situations, as well as having a huge bombshell dropped on him. There are a couple of stars attached to two paragraphs near the beginning which indicate where the soundtrack for this chapter comes in. The first star goes with "Feast of Starlight" from the DoS soundtrack and the second star goes with the "Kingsfoil" track. For those who are familiar with the tracks and once you read these two sections I think you'll see why I've added them in, they practically make my heart melt they fit so perfectly.**

**Anyway lots of intense stuff coming up! Looking forward to sharing it all with you soon!**

**I had a review which raised a valid point for me as this is the first story I've written so I feel like sharing it with you in case anyone else feels this way, and this is my response and reasoning for it (I'm not going to deliberately name names, but I feel its an important viewpoint on the story).**

_**I would enjoy it much more if you could dial back Fili's babytalk. I've actually started reading this story several times and stopped because of that alone. You might want to consider that some readers could find it grating rather than 'pwecious'.**_

**When I thought about this I realized that the reviewer had a fair point so this is something I wanted to share, my response being:  
**

**_The reason for using it was to keep reminding everyone that Fili is very young in the story and not yet able to talk properly, but I do get your point, it can also be a pain in the a** to write. I have been drawing from my experiences with all the under-5's (mainly 2 & 3 year old's who babble consistently and can hardly string three words together, occasionally much to my annoyance lol) that my mum looks after in home based care, and after that don't have much to do with children who are over 5 and "can kinda speak but can't", so probably overdid it a little bit :)_**

**If anyone else feels the same about Fili's talk I do apologize, it was never meant to be annoying and I probably should have thought it through a bit more :) Thank you to my reviewer for the feedback, you know who you are! :)**

**Once again thank you everyone for reading this, and I want to say a huge welcome to MercedesAsheSorrel, Ithilya, arianna2, Lymira, MelanthiaChase, PotterheadWhovian, ladymay03 and Wraven as well as all the other followers/favouriters! You guys rock!**

**Sorry for the massive Authors Note...**

* * *

Thorin sat on his chair with his head resting against the wall, tapping his fingers impatiently on his leg. Oin had been in earlier to tell them that Dís was close to giving birth, but that had been hours ago, it was nearing noon and still there was no word. The stress she was causing him was driving him insane; in fact at one point he thought she might have been doing it deliberately just to infuriate him for her own amusement.

Of course that thought was sent flying out the window when a cry of pain and a steady string of dwarvish swear words floated down the hall from his sisters' room, following Dwalin in as he closed the door behind him after coming back from his smoke. Thorin had wanted nothing more than to join his friend in order to smoke away some stress, but he'd left his pipe at home and had no intention to fetch it now.

"It's getting darker out there, storms definitely on its way." Dwalin said as he tucked his pipe back in his pocket and sat on the bed.

Balin went to open his mouth when the door opened and Oin walked in. All three dwarves jumped to their feet in anticipation and nervousness.

"Well?" Dwalin demanded, noticing how tense his friend had become at his side.

Oin had been looking at the three of them with no expression, however he couldn't hold it for long and his face broke out into a huge smile.

"It's done. Dís and the baby are fine. She's exhausted, but she wants to see you." Oin said gently.

Thorin thought his legs would give way from under him, but Dwalin and Balin grabbed him by the shoulders in congratulations and to ensure he stayed standing.

"What did she have?" Thorin managed to ask in a whisper, looking like he was about ready to faint.

*Oin chuckled in response. "Like last time, she's insisted you find out for yourself. Come on you lot, yes you two as well, she said she won't have either of you waiting outside the room." He looked at Balin and Dwalin as he said this.

Thorin, Balin and Dwalin followed Oin to Dís's room. On the short walk over Thorin couldn't help but think back to when she'd given birth to Fíli.

"_How is she?" He asked worriedly. His brother-in-law had already gone in to see her, and Thorin was walking with Balin and Dwalin who were just as eager to meet the new child._

"_She's fine as is the baby." Oin promised in a reassuring voice._

"_What did she have?" Thorin asked, nervousness creeping into his voice as they arrived at the door to her room._

"_She, ah… insisted that I refrain from telling you. Said she'd prefer to see your reaction." Oin said with a chuckle, opening the door to allow the three dwarves in._

_The three dwarves stepped inside and saw Dís sitting up in bed with a bundle in her arms, while she was tucked securely into her husbands' side. The pair of them had been looking fondly at the bundle in her arms, the sunlight revealing tears on their faces. Both dwarves looked up at the three newcomers with smiles on their faces, one clearly more exhausted than the other._

"_Dís" Thorin said gently, pressing his lips to his sisters' forehead and looking her in the eyes in order to search for his own proof she was fine._

_Dís rolled her eyes knowing exactly what her brother was looking for. "I'm fine Thorin. Would you like to meet the baby?" She asked gently._

_Thorin nodded and received the small bundle from his sister. The baby had been wrapped so that the only parts that were showing were the face which was turned to the side as the baby slept and the arms that were lying on top. As Thorin went to pull the blanket down to reveal the whole of the baby's head Dís said gently "Thorin, meet Fíli, your nephew."_

_Thorin's face broke out into a smile; he had gained a nephew, and an heir. The blanket fell away from the baby's head to reveal a head of seemingly liquid blonde hair, and when Thorin saw the blonde he felt the air catch in his throat._

"_He has Frerin's hair, and our nose." Dís said quietly looking at Thorin and Fíli with a smile on her face, her heart mourning the golden haired brother she had lost years ago. _

_Thorin's heart had stuttered as he looked at the dwarfling in his hands, so small and delicate and breakable. His fingers cupped the baby's head and he trailed his thumb down Fíli's face in a caress, causing the baby to stir._

_Thorin was about to hand the baby back when Fíli opened his eyes. Dazzling blue shone up at him and Thorin couldn't help the feeling of love flow through him. He expected the baby to cry, but instead Fíli reached a hand out and touched Thorins' face, opening his mouth and letting out a coo, causing all the adults in the room to laugh, love thick in their voices as Thorin pressed gentle lips to his nephews forehead._

"_You are loved, and you are blessed, little one."_

Thorin allowed the fond memory to fade as they arrived at Dís' door, in fact it was the same one as last time which made him chuckle quietly. Oin opened the door and led the three dwarves inside. There was Dís, exactly the same as before, sitting up and holding her new born child, tears of joy on her face as she looked at the baby lovingly. The only difference this time was that she was unable to share this precious moment with her husband, just as she had last time. The thought pained Thorin, but he knew he shouldn't linger on it, especially as he'd been trying to stop her from thinking about her husband since he'd died.

Thorin stepped forward and placed his lips to his sisters' forehead, and squeezed the back of her neck gently.

"Haven't we been here before?" Dís asked with a quiet chuckle.

"Aye, we have. Much has changed since then." Thorin replied with a small smile.

Dís managed to move herself over to one side of the bed, and patted the now empty spot for Thorin to sit in. "I may not be able to have my husband by my side, but I can have my brother." She said softly.

Thorin smiled and sat on the bed next to his sister, who immediately huddled in to his side, both for comfort and warmth, "Aye, that you can, dearest sister."

*"What's done is done; I just wish he had been here to meet the baby, it is one of the few regrets I will always have." Dís said sadly, looking at the baby before pressing her lips to the newborns' forehead. She looked at Thorin with a smile, "Would you like to meet the baby?"

Thorin grinned at his sister, as painful as it was to hear her talk about her dead husband, he was glad to see that it hadn't affected her badly during the birth. But the main reason for his smile was that his sister had yet again tactfully avoided giving him any clues as to the gender of the baby. His reaction made her chuckle.

Dís re-arranged herself into a more comfortable position before handing the baby over to her brother. The baby was wrapped the same way Fíli had been so Thorin was unable to see the baby's hair, only the face and arms. It too was asleep: clearly being born took a lot of effort.

"Meet Kíli, your nephew." Dís said as Thorin pulled the blanket away. He had half expected blonde hair again, but to his surprise a head of raven black hair greeted him. He looked at Dís with tears in his eyes.

"He has your hair and nose." Thorin told his sister, his voice thick with emotion.

"Our hair and nose" Dís corrected him gently.

Thorin felt himself mimicking his actions of five years earlier with Fíli. Thorin cupped his hand to the back of his nephews head and stroked the baby's face gently. The baby carried on sleeping and Thorin looked up at Dwalin and Balin with a grin.

The brothers took this as a sign to move closer as they'd been hovering between the bed and the door, unsure of where to stand. They both moved to the bed, taking turns to plant a kiss on Dís' forehead before Dwalin moved to the opposite side of the bed to stand near Thorin.

"He looks a bit like you Thorin" Balin said with a smile as he looked at the baby.

"But not as ugly" Dwalin said in a teasing voice making them all laugh.

Their laughter woke Kíli, he began to squirm in his blankets and when he opened his eyes Thorin couldn't help his mouth falling open. Incredible liquid brown eyes stared up at him in an almost accusing manner. The baby let out a whine and looked as though he was about to start crying, so Thorin rocked him gently, making soothing noises. It had the desired effect because not only did Kíli not cry, he lifted his arms and grabbed Thorin's beard, cooing happily with one of the most adorable smiles on his face that Thorin had ever seen, it was on par with Fíli's beloved smiles.

After a good half an hour with Dís and Kíli, where Dwalin and Balin got to hold the newest member of the Durin line, they finally left Dís to get some well-deserved sleep. Thorin was the last to leave, Kíli had fallen asleep long ago, but Thorin had been unwilling to put him down. He pressed his lips to his nephews' forehead and whispered "You are loved, you are blessed, and you will always be protected little one." Thorin had said the last part in reference to his brother-in-law, for he knew that from the halls of his fathers he would always watch over his two sons, just as Thorin intended to do.

As Thorin placed Kíli in his crib, Dís watched him wearily with a small smile. "I was given the sun, and now a moon. My day and night." She said with a sigh as she allowed sleep to take her.

Thorin kissed her forehead gently before leaving the room, a smile on his face at his sisters words, for they were truer than he expected. Fíli's hair shined like the sun, and he had become the new light in the Durin family's dark tunnel after the loss of their homeland. But where there was a sun, there had to be a moon, hand in hand wherever they went. And the moon had just been born, and would bring just as much joy to their lives as his brother had. Fíli and Kíli would balance each other out, at least Thorin prayed that this would be the case, that the brothers would be close and always have each other's back.

With that thought he stepped outside to breathe in fresh, albeit stormy air to try and lessen the giddy feeling he was still experiencing after meeting Kíli for the first time.

* * *

Elrohir stepped outside for some fresh air, the smell of the tavern and being in there for what felt like hours was beginning to get to him. He'd always been like that though; he'd never really been able to cope with the confinement and smells of humans as well as his brother, Elladan just teasingly told him he was sensitive, which of course always annoyed him but unfortunately he couldn't downright deny it as his brother was probably right. As he looked to the sky he felt his mouth fall open. No wonder he'd been feeling queasy, the sun had already passed the mid-day mark. In fact from the position of the sun it was mid-afternoon now, the clouds were looking incredibly angry, and the first few droplets of rain were descending from the sky.

Elrohir opened the tavern door and hurried over to his brothers. _Brother_, Elrohir had to remind himself sternly, there was no guarantee that they were taking Fíli with them, and they'd already wasted most of the day away in the tavern. They couldn't even go looking for other dwarves at the moment as the weather was about to turn ugly and they needed to fetch their belongings before the storm hit. _'That and the town's slowly filtering out'_ he thought to himself, _'people are heading home before the storm hits, just great.'_

"El" Elrohir said sitting back down next to his brother and interrupting another story that he'd been telling Fíli. They had been telling him stories all morning much to the young dwarflings delight.

Elladan looked at his brother with annoyance as he'd just walked in on a particularly good part of the tale. "Yes Roh?"

"It seems that whilst sitting here telling stories, time has decided to elude us. It's mid-afternoon and that storm is directly over the top of us. In fact it's starting to rain. If we don't get our stuff now we're going to be sorry." Elrohir said with a sigh.

Elladans mouth mimicked his brothers from earlier, dropping open in surprise. "Well there goes our plan for the day." He said, shaking his head.

"We need to go get our stuff now. Do you think the owner will let us leave Fíli in a room so we can go grab it?" Elrohir asked his brother, glancing at the owner.

"I go wif you!" Fíli piped up in protest, not at all pleased with the thought of being left behind in this strange smelling building with semi-drunk men.

Elladan sighed "we can ask but I doubt we can leave him here. He said that the room he's got for us won't be free until later; he came over just before and said and I doubt he'll want a child left on their own in here."

Fíli jumped up from his seat "I coming to!" he said sounding slightly annoyed, and before either elf could stop him he darted for the door. The elves raced after him but thankfully they didn't have to go far as he stopped outside the door with a smile on his face.

They looked at him and sighed "Alright Fíli, let's go get our stuff yeah?" Elrohir said with a smile.

The dwarfling grabbed their hands and they walked out of town the same way they had walked in.

* * *

Dwalin and Balin followed Thorin outside once he'd left Dís' room. The brothers had been just as taken with Kíli as they had been with his older brother, something precious had just made its way into the world and into their hearts, and they knew that they would give their lives to protect this bundle of innocence.

They also both had a feeling that the coming years were going to be full on with both boys, but they were looking forward to the challenge of helping to raise them through their studies. Having them as the teachers of Fíli and now Kíli had been something Thorin had insisted on from the both of them when Dís fell pregnant for the first time.

The brothers watched Thorin look at the sky for a moment before turning back to them. "It's time I head home and go and see Fíli, he'll no doubt be getting restless and missing his mother, so he'll be glad to hear that he can go see her soon. Thank you, for being here today," Thorin said placing a hand on Dwalin and Balin's shoulders "knowing that you were both here for us, I cannot thank you enough." Thorin said, finishing with a smile.

Thorin wasn't always the best at conveying his feelings or his thanks, but he knew that the two dwarves in front of him would be able to decipher what he meant regardless.

"Ye no we wouldn' leave either of you to go through this stuff alone, yer family after all." Dwalin said, clapping his own hand to Thorin's shoulder.

"Aye" Balin agreed, "we'll follow you home. We wouldn't mind visiting Fíli and seeing his reaction." Dwalin glanced at Balin briefly, glad for his brothers excuse for going home with Thorin in order to see if the little one was there, and to defuse a potentially volatile situation if he wasn't.

Thorin nodded, glad for the company for the journey home. He couldn't wait to tell Fíli that his little brother had arrived, and to introduce them for the first time.

* * *

The three dwarves made their way back to Thorin's in a short amount of time, however they were beginning to feel the first few drops of rain that announced it was almost time for the storm to hit. Balin prayed that Fíli was home, he wasn't sure how to explain why Fíli was missing if that was still the case and with the storm about ready to begin, Thorin would be almost uncontrollable in his efforts to find his nephew if he still hadn't returned.

As the three dwarves arrived at the house Balin managed to slip in front of Thorin before they reached the door and walked in first, holding it open for the other two. Normally Thorin would have gone ahead but Balin wanted to see if Fréya was anywhere to be seen so she could indicate if Fíli had arrived home or not.

As soon as Balin walked in he spotted Fréya sitting at the table staring at him, in the space of two seconds he looked at her with his eyebrows raised to which she responded with the tiniest shake of her head. Balin groaned inwardly: Fíli wasn't back.

Thorin and Dwalin didn't see any of this exchange as they walked in, but Dwalin could see the tension in the young dwarrowdam in the kitchen.

"Fréya, how's everything been going? Where's Fíli?" Thorin asked, his back to her as he deposited his coat on the hook near the door.

Fréya didn't answer; instead she looked fearfully at Balin, silently begging him to help her. She'd been trying to figure out what to say to Thorin since she'd woken and still didn't have the slightest clue, after all how do you tell your leader his nephew and heir vanished into thin air?

Thorin noticed the silence and turned back to look at her fully. "Fréya? Where is Fíli?" Thorin spoke slowly, his voice holding a firm tone.

Balin sighed, which drew Thorin's attention. "He's disappeared, Thorin. There's no easy way to say it I'm afraid."

Thorin blinked at Balin, surely this was just a bad joke, probably one of Fíli's and the lad would come jumping out any second. Several moments passed and not a word was said nor a sound was made.

"HE WHAT?!" Thorin roared when he realised that the mood was too serious for this to be a joke and they were waiting on him to say something. His roar caused the three other dwarves in the room to visibly jump, tears began to spill from Fréya's eyes and Balin placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"He's disappeared, Thorin. We've been searching for him since it happened but we haven't been able to find him."

"WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Thorin bellowed at the dwarrowdam at the table, causing her to shrink in on herself in fear and grief.

"Thorin! Do not go blaming Fréya for something she could not control!" Balin snapped. He didn't want Thorin to say something that would become the deciding factor for Fréya to never look after Fíli again.

When Thorin looked slightly ashamed of his outburst Balin took that as his cue to continue. "He went missing yesterday after Fréya picked him up from the toyshop. When Fréya told me what had happened I went searching for him for the rest of the day, hence why I didn't return to the Healing House like I said I would. When he didn't turn up by nightfall I decided to go searching for him again this morning at first light whilst Fréya stayed here to wait and see if he'd come home, however my search was cut short this morning when Dwalin came to tell me Dís was ready to deliver. We had hoped last night that he had found somewhere warm to sleep and would be back this morning, unfortunately it seems we were wrong about him returning." Balin looked at his friend in concern, trying to read his reaction.

Thorin was shaking, both in anger and fear. Anger that no one had told him that Fíli had gone missing, and fear because of the fact that he had been missing since yesterday and anything could have happened to him.

"Tell me everything that happened." Thorin said harshly, looking at Fréya who shrunk into her chair in fear and not knowing what to say.

Thorin sighed, he wasn't angry at her, not really. He knew Balin was right that it wasn't her fault and that he shouldn't blame her. And now the kind-hearted young dwarrowdam who was always smiling at him was looking at him in fear. Thorin took a seat near Fréya and reached out and held her hand.

Using a gentler voice Thorin spoke again. "I'm sorry Fréya, I'm not angry at you I swear. This just isn't what I was expecting to hear when I came home. Please, tell me everything that happened yesterday, any emotions or words that seemed off between you picking up Fíli and noticing that he'd disappeared. Perhaps we can figure out what triggered him to run and perhaps it will lead us to him."

Fréya looked at Thorin still a little unsure. He'd frightened her but she knew she couldn't blame him really. She relaxed in Thorin's hold of her hand and took a breath.

"I arrived at the toyshop and Bofur greeted me out front. I brought a toy for the new baby then Bofur took me out back to where Fíli was working on his new toy. I told him I was taking him home and you'd be back tomorrow, or today I guess. After he finished he came out and we walked back here, we stopped off in the gardens to pick some flowers for Fíli to give to Dís when he went to see her. My friend was there and was showing me some particularly nice flowers that she said we could have for free. When I went to show Fíli he wasn't there, I thought he was playing hide and seek but we searched for almost an hour and still couldn't find him. That is when Balin found us and I told him what had happened." Fréya had been focusing on her and Thorin's clasped hands when she spoke, then looked up to see the reaction on his face.

Thorin was frowning, but he wasn't really focussing on anything as he tried to think what could have happened in that time. He looked at the dwarrowdam to see her hesitant expression. "Can you think of anything that he said or did that didn't quite fit? Please Fréya think, was there anything out of place?" He tone was gentle but insistent.

Fréya sighed and closed her eyes, running over everything that she had just told Thorin carefully. She opened her eyes slowly when a thought hit her and looked at Thorin with an unsure look. "There might be one thing," she said slowly trying to remember precisely what had happened and noticing Dwalin and Balin take a seat at the table, looking at her expectantly.

"When I went to the toyshop and saw Fíli he was all excited to show me the horse that he'd just painted. However the moment I told him I was taking him home there was almost like a pause in his expression, but it only lasted a second and then he was all smiling and happy. Then when he joined me and Bofur at the front of the shop he was suddenly sad. Bofur said something about it being because he had to leave the horse behind and I just assumed that that was what it was; now I'm not so sure."

Thorin nodded, so whatever had happened must have happened around that time.

"There was nothing else?" Balin asked gently.

Fréya shook her head "he was quiet the whole way back, so I don't think the reason for him to run happened after we left."

Thorin was nodding absentmindedly, sifting through his own thoughts of yesterday. He thought about how Fíli had been quiet on the way to the toyshop, and his surprise when he realised that that was where they were going, about Fíli talking to Bofur before waving goodbye and dashing into the shop. He thought about how Fíli had come racing back to hug him after he had called out to Fíli to say he would pick him up and…. Thorin groaned, closing his eyes and grabbing his head in horror.

"Thorin? Ev'rythin' alright?" Dwalin asked in concern.

"I think I know what caused him to run." Thorin said, his voice coming out in a groan.

"Well?" Asked Balin, trying to get him to continue after a pause.

"Fréya picked him up" Thorin said in horror at what he'd done without even realising it.

Balin, Dwalin and Fréya looked at each other confused.

"I… don't understand" Balin eventually said.

"Fréya picked him up Balin. Not me. I told him I would pick him up and I didn't."

"I still don't understand" Fréya said with a frown.

Thorin looked at her with a sad expression. "The night Fíli's father died we both promised him that we'd come back, however only I returned. After that Fíli said that his father had promised to come back but didn't, so thought that his father didn't love him. I told him that it was a promise his father had fought hard to keep but others had stopped him from doing so, and I swore to him that from that day forward I would keep every promise I made to him. I told him I would pick him up yesterday, but I didn't."

"You told him Thorin, you didn' promise" Dwalin said firmly.

"To be told something and to have a promise made is one in the same thing to a child Dwalin. If Thorin said he'd pick him up then he believed that that was what was exactly going to happen; only it didn't." Balin told his brother gently, clueing into Thorin's realisation.

Thorin had allowed his head to fall into his hands in grief whilst Balin spoke. There was only one thing that he could do, Thorin knew, and that was to go and find his nephew, apologize profusely and explain what had happened, hoping he hadn't completely destroyed Fíli's trust in him. Thorin stood up, his chair clattering to the ground.

"I'm going to go find him. I will not have him hiding when this storm hits, they terrify him and he could get hurt or sick from exposure." Thorin said as he headed to the door to put his coat back on.

"We'll come with you laddie. I'd like to know exactly where he's been hiding all this time, and now we can start asking direct questions as to where he is, means we'll get more eyes out looking for him." Balin said joining Thorin at the door with Dwalin right behind.

"I'll come too." Fréya said standing up, only to have Thorin walk back to her and place his hands on her shoulders.

"No Fréya, the storm is about to hit and I don't want you out in it where you could fall sick." Thorin said gently.

"But he ran away when I was supposed to be looking after him!" She argued back.

"It is not your fault you hear me. I need you here, he's most likely going to come running back the moment the first lightning strike hits and he'll need someone to comfort him. Please, do this for me." Thorin said gently, cupping her neck and placing his forehead against hers briefly.

Fréya was touched by the gesture as dwarves only carried out the gesture to those closest to them. She nodded, her forehead still connected to Thorin before drawing back with a smile.

"I'll go get the fire started and put some blankets near it to warm you all up when you return. Just find him." She said before heading off to the living room to start the fire.

"Alright, let's go." Thorin said looking to his two friends and heading out the door.

* * *

When they were outside they started heading down the path from the house towards the town, and Thorin looked at Balin. "Where did you look? Perhaps we should start where you haven't already searched and we might need to consider splitting up also."

Balin opened his mouth to reply when there was an urgent shout.

"THORIN!"

The dwarves turned to look towards the shout, which had come from the direction of the Healing House, and saw Bofur, Bifur and Gloin running towards them.

Thorin waited until the three dwarves had slowed down in front of them. "Bofur what's the matter?"

Bofur took a couple of deep breaths in order to talk properly. "Orcs, Thorin. The guards saw me and said that a scout spotted Orcs in the forest outside of town. They're busy gearing up and sent me to find you; I found Bifur and Gloin along the way. We went to the Healing House as that's where you were last I heard. I've told Oin and he and the healers and preparing for wounded."

Thorin groaned loudly; Fíli was missing, a storm was about to hit and now they were expecting an attack? Great. "How many?"

"It appears to be a small troop, 20-30 is the guess. He didn't hang around to get an exact count." Bofur said.

"What do yer want us ta do?" Dwalin asked with a growl.

"Will you all fight?" Thorin asked, looking around the small group. When he received nods from everyone present he carried on. "Alright, go to your houses, collect your weapons and horses and meet at the front gates. Be there in 10 minutes."

The small party dispersed and Thorin sprinted back towards the house, thankful for not being far away from it.

* * *

Thorin burst through the front doors, causing a yelp to come from the living room.

"Thorin?!" Fréya said in shock as he raced down the hall to his room to gather his weapons. He grabbed his swords and armour and took them out into the living room to put them on and talk to Fréya at the same time.

"Thorin what's going on?" The dwarrowdam asked nervously as she watched Thorin put on his armour.

"Fréya, there are Orcs outside the city, so I'm going out to join the fight. I need you to fill a bag with blankets and food and head to the Healing House. I want you there where I know you will be safe and take your family with you as well. I want you to tell your father to take his weapons with him as he will be part of the defence for the Healing House should the Orcs get into the city, and tell him it's by my order if there are any arguments with other guards. I want you and your family to help look after and protect Dís until I return." Thorin said as he finished sheathing his weapons.

Fréya looked at him with an open mouth; she had just been given the equivalent position of royal guard to the princess. She nodded and went to leave but spun back. "What of Fíli Thorin? Did you find him?"

Thorin shook his head "We didn't even get a chance to look. There is nothing we can do for him now except keep the Orcs out of the town and hope that is all it takes to keep him safe. Now go!"

Fréya nodded and the pair of them parted ways.


	9. A Lion in a Storm

**Hello everybody! Feels like ages since I last updated so I do apologize! I've had this written for a week or so but I wanted to complete the next chapter before publishing this one. All I have to say is that with this chapter it jumps through viewpoints a little bit so I apologize if it gets a bit annoying in advance, I just want everyone to know what everyone is thinking/feeling throughout the chapter, and its VERY INTENSE! As you'll see the weather is our solid point for knowing where everyone is at a certain time.**

**Just wanted to say welcome to the new followers: Marsie Elvenheart Sinclair, Frodo1512, Gryffbaby and lillali, and to everyone else who has taken time to read and review, you guys are awesome!**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

Thorin raced around to the paddock behind the house and saddled up his pony Acorn, then they rode through Ered Luin to the gate as fast as they could as Thorin knew he needed to be there in order to organise the troops and co-ordinate the attack.

As Thorin approached the garden's he saw Dwalin, Balin, Bofur, Bifur and Gloin all riding towards him from different directions. Thorin stopped Acorn in the middle of the gardens and waited for the others to join him.

"We've told everyone we saw to spread the word and get to cover. Hopefully we can take this Orc filth by surprise and minimise the casualties." Balin said as he and Dwalin stopped next to Thorin.

Thorin nodded his approval and waited for the other three to join them. As they were waiting he saw two human females hurry towards them with children in tow. He couldn't help but hear their conversation as they neared the group of dwarves.

"…A pack of Orcs apparently on the outskirts of town somewhere. I hope those elves and that child came back to town." Said one woman

"The elven twins? Oh they're gorgeous aren't they mother? And what child? They didn't have one when they stopped by the stall yesterday."

"The blonde haired boy. Although he didn't look like an elf, built more like a dwarfling I reckon but I couldn't tell as they disappeared into the Tavern pretty quickly." The mother replied, motioning for the others to hurry past the group of dwarves.

Thorin couldn't help but hear their conversation as they drew near, but the moment the mother mentioned a blonde haired child with two elves Thorin's mouth dropped open and he looked at the Dwarves with him in horror, the other three having just joined them.

Dwalin and Balin looked stricken: was it Fíli who was with these elves?

Thorin leapt off Acorn and grabbed the arms of the two women, spinning them around.

"Excuse me!" The mother said looking startled and trying to pull out of Thorins' grip.

"Please, what were you saying about two elves with a child?" Thorin asked desperately. Fíli couldn't be with these elves, he wouldn't go near them after Thorin had warned him about them.

The mother and eldest daughter looked at each other in surprise whilst sheltering the three younger children from the group of weapon-clad dwarves. "We were saying that the two elves that were in town yesterday at the markets returned early this morning with a blonde haired child. He looked familiar but I can't place him, and he definitely wasn't built like a human or elf child, so I'm assuming he's a dwarfling."

Thorin looked at the group of dwarves in shock, blonde hair amongst humans and dwarves were rare, in fact there were only a handful in Ered Luin and currently there were only three blonde children, only one who happened to be a dwarfling.

"Please, where are they? I need to find them immediately." Thorin said choking slightly on his words.

"I'm sorry I haven't seen them since this morning." The mother said looking at Thorin curiously.

"Hang on mama, I remember seeing them just before come to think of it…" The oldest daughter said looking from her mother to Thorin.

"I was busy packing up the stall early due to the storm and saw them briefly out of the corner of my eye. There was a flash of yellow but I didn't pay much attention to them, I only noticed that they left town. I think Ivy was saying yesterday that they're camping on that field near the forest."

Thorin's hands fell from the two women and he looked at the others in horror, his face paling at what the young woman had said. With quick thanks Thorin jumped back onto Acorn and raced towards the town entrance.

"Balin! What's the matter? What's goin' on?" Gloin called as they raced after Thorin.

"Fíli disappeared yesterday after he left Bofur's, no one's seen him since and by the sounds of things it's because he's with these two elves." Balin called back.

Bofur, Gloin and to some extent Bifur paled considerably when they understood what had Thorin so worried. If Fíli was with these two elves then they had taken him towards the forest where the Orcs were, and they had no clue as to whether the elves were aware of the Orcs that were nearby.

Thorin and his group arrived at the town entrance to find a large group of dwarves assembling with their weapons. As much as Thorin wanted to rush out the gate then and there he knew as the leader of the town he had to co-ordinate the army.

"My Lord, we have just about assembled." One of the lead dwarves told Thorin as they stopped near the troops.

Thorin looked around at the group of dwarves and men that had assembled. A good 50 or so were there ready to go.

"I want 30 of your men stationed around town on top of the outer wall, most of them near the entrance. It's only a small group and we should have the element of surprise. The rest will follow us; get your best riders on horses now!" Thorin told him.

The lead dwarf nodded and started bellowing orders, not five minutes later the square was slightly more deserted with the dwarves on top of the wall or saddled and ready to go behind Thorin. There was a flash of lightning followed by a loud clap of thunder not too long after, the rain following the thunder quickly and heavily.

Thorin looked around the troops, nodded to his friends and spurred his pony forward "Let's go."

* * *

Fíli, Elladan and Elrohir arrived at the field before the storm had started, and Elrohir was currently in the process of teaching Fíli another elven word.

"Mae Govannen Fíli, means welcome." Elrohir sounded it out slowly for Fíli so he could hear the different syllables.

"M-m-mae Gow'nnen?" Fíli asked looking between the two elves as they got closer to their camping place.

"Close enough little one." Elrohir said with a chuckle, whilst Elladan stiffened and looked around.

Elrohir noticed the change in his brother. He stopped Fíli by placing a hand on his shoulder and told him to practice the word a few more times, and they'd get the packs in a minute. "Just sit down and practise ok?" He said whilst coming to stand behind his brother.

"_El, what is it?"_ Elrohir thought to his brother.

Elladan looked at his brother slowly, his eyes wide in alarm. _"We're not alone out here. Get the packs and get the weapons."_

Just as Elrohir heard his brothers' thoughts the wind changed and he suddenly picked up on the smell and sounds that his brother had moments ago: Orcs. Elrohir stiffened, nodded at his brother and moved at a steady yet slow pace towards the trees. The Orcs weren't directly behind them, they were further off to the side but he had no doubt that they knew they were there.

"That storms coming in quickly, I'll just grab the packs then we can head back to town for the night!" Elrohir called out to Fíli loudly, hoping that if the Orcs were listening nearby they wouldn't charge until he and his brother had their weapons.

There was no noise from the forest as Elrohir climbed the tree to the packs. When he got to the hiding place a clap of lightning struck, lighting the valley up which allowed him to look around. From his spot in the tree he spotted the Orc pack and groaned. _"El, I can see them from here, they're close and I'd say there's more than 20."_

"_Great… get down here now, we need to get Fíli out of here. This is no place for a dwarfling."_

Elladan walked over to his and Elrohir's horses that were still grazing nearby. He placed a hand on each of their muzzles and spoke to them softly in Elvish. They both dipped their heads and shook their manes when he had finished and trotted off into the forest in front of them to get far enough away from the danger yet close enough to be called if needed.

Elladan watched them go, he knew that they could try and get Fíli out of there on horseback, but without being armed and with what smelt like Wargs nearby he knew they'd stand no chance trying to run; they had to fight.

Elrohir grabbed the packs and dropped from the tree quickly. He walked over to his brother and Fíli and the pair of them began to arm themselves.

"Why you doing that?" Fíli asked watching the brothers curiously.

"It just makes it easier for us to carry our packs." Elladan said crouching down in front of the dwarfling, and Elrohir stepping in front of him, seemingly to attach something to himself but really to block the view of what his brother was about to do.

Elladan sensed the change in the air surrounding the Orcs just as the thunder and rain started, they were on the move. Fíli with wide eyes clapped his hands to his ears in terror at the loud noise of the thunder and watched as Elladan pulled out a long dagger from his pack and held it out to him.

"Fíli listen to me, we are in danger. There are Orcs nearby and we need to get out of here ok? You need to take this and keep hold of it, it's just to be safe but I swear you won't have to use it."

Fíli paled at Elladan's words and took the dagger with shaking hands. Orcs, the creatures who had killed his father were here again. Fíli nodded to Elladan to show he understood the urgency of the situation.

"Fíli I want you to climb onto my back ok? We're going to get you out of here understood?" Elladan said, going to turn around for Fíli to do exactly that.

"El! There's no time! They're here!" Elrohir called suddenly.

Elladan whipped his head around, there was another flash of lightning and sure enough Elladan could see the pack of Orcs, some of which were on wargs causing him to groan. There was no way they were going to get Fíli out of there now. Fíli whimpered in fear and clutched at Elladan's arm in terror, he was terrified of storms and even more terrified by the Orcs.

"It's alright Fíli, we won't let them touch you ok? I want you to get behind these rocks here and stay hidden. I don't want you to watch but I need you to listen out for any instructions we give you alright?" Elladan said scooping the terrified dwarfling up and placing him behind the rocks where it was safe.

Fíli nodded at Elladan who then pulled away. Fíli wanted to hide but with the loud thunder he knew he wouldn't be able to hear the twins. So Fíli turned around and peeked out from behind the rocks to see Elladan join Elrohir and watched as they both drew their bows, ready to face the incoming enemy.

* * *

Gûndar motioned to his company to move forward through the trees slowly. They had hoped to carry out a surprise attack however they had picked up the scent of a dwarf that had been close by. When Gûndar sent one of his men to investigate they discovered fresh footprints nearby: they had been spotted.

When his scout gave him the news he hissed and turned to them all. "Prepare to move out, we attack now!"

Yes they had been spotted, however it didn't mean that all was lost. Being close to the town gave them a better advantage, Ered Luin was unlikely to get their soldiers prepared in time to avoid an attack.

Gûndar motioned to his men to move quietly through the trees and were slowly gaining on the town when they heard talking coming towards them. He raised his hands to stop and silence his troop. They watched as three beings left the road and walked across the field that was to their right.

"Elves and a dwarfling" he said quietly with glee once he'd finished sniffing the air.

His Warg shifted slightly and growled quietly. Gûndar silenced him with a stroke of his hand, a new plan forming in his mind: he had no interest in the elves but if he could capture the dwarfling, surely he could use him to his advantage to get what he wanted.

Whilst the new plan was forming in Gûndar's mind he failed to notice that the growl his warg made alerted one of the elves to their presence. That, and the fact that it was raining slightly would have made their scent easier to identify in the air.

They heard one of the elves talking loudly all of a sudden "That storms coming in quickly, I'll just grab the packs then we can head back to town for the night!"

"Not going to happen" Gûndar hissed to his company. "Wait until I give the word."

They watched as one of the elves disappeared up the tree, and tried to spot him. There was a flash of lightning but still they could not see him in amongst the leaves. Moments later he dropped down to the ground and walked over to the others. With a wave of his hand they made their way slowly to the edge of the forest, sticking to the shadows.

"Why you doing that?" A small voice floated across the clearing to the waiting Orcs. Gûndar grinned as they arrived at the edge of the forest; this was going to be too easy. The soldiers of Ered Luin would be too late to reach them by the time they had finished here, and all they'd be able to do was watch helplessly as the dwarfling suffered by his hands.

There was a flash of lightning which lit up the entire field including the area they were standing in, and the rain picked up its intensity. Gûndar motioned for his troop to move forward slightly so the elves could see exactly who was about to bring about their demise.

"El! There's no time! They're here!" The cry said, floating towards them.

Suddenly one of the elves picked the dwarfling up and placed him behind the rocks which caused Gûndar to hiss in anger, they weren't going to keep his prize from him.

"Charge" He growled, kicking his Warg into motion.

* * *

Elladan and Elrohir stood and pointed their bows at the oncoming orcs calmly. They had been planning on taking the leader out first, but seeing as they couldn't tell who the leader was, they settled for the second best option which was simple: wipe them all out.

"_Ready brother?"_ Elrohir thought with a hint of amusement, watching the Orcs start their charge. They'd have to wait till they were a little closer before firing on them to do any real damage.

"_As always."_ Was the reply, Elladans lips smirking slightly.

There was a pause before Elrohir allowed his brother to hear his concerns _"We might not make it out of this, will we?"_ Elrohir's thoughts were hesitant, slightly scared even. If it were just the two of them they would have been able to pull it off as they had the entire forest at their disposal for defensive and attacking purposes, however with a child behind them there was no way that they could leave him unprotected and know he was safe the entire time.

"_We will make it out of this brother, just like we do every time. We might end up a little worse for wear, but we will not die this night." _Elladan thought firmly_ "I will not let you die this night."_ He added to his thoughts, more softly.

Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other, love and trust flashing over their features briefly before they turned back to the Orcs and as one they fired an arrow at two of the Wargs, the aim of the arrows true and landing right between their eyes sending the two wargs and their riders to the ground in a heap.

"Bet I kill more tonight." Elrohir said calmly

"You think? Two weeks of kitchen duty and my chores says your wrong." Elladan shot back with a grin.

"You're on."

* * *

Thorin pushed Acorn as fast as he'd go. He HAD to reach the field, he HAD to stop those Orcs and most importantly he HAD to save Fíli from these creatures. He couldn't lose him. He just couldn't.

Thorin looked behind him and saw the same grim determination on the faces of his friends and guards. Balin had spread the word through the rest of the riders that Thorin's nephew was with the two elves that were believed to be camping on the outskirts of town, and right now the three of them were in serious danger. The news of the golden haired Fíli being in danger sparked fury in the riders and they were all dead-set on ensuring he made it home in one piece.

They were getting closer, only a few more minutes to get to the corner that would lead them to the field.

A roar and clash of metal rang through the air, freezing Thorin's blood and making him go pale. They were too late on getting Fíli away from the Orcs, as they could clearly hear a battle taking place not far from them, in the field no doubt. He looked at the others and noticed the same paleness and fear on all their faces.

There was only one thought on Thorin's mind now: get to Fíli.

He urged Acorn on faster, dreading what he might find.

* * *

Elrohir released another arrow, hitting an Orc straight in the eyes. So far they had taken down five each, and disposed of a third of their enemies without having to draw their swords. Of course the 10 didn't count all the Wargs they'd taken down, and they'd only managed to take down a couple of those, so maybe the odds were still against them.

Elladan released another arrow then turned his head quickly to look behind him. Fíli's eyes were the size of saucers, he was as pale as fresh snow and was shaking uncontrollably in fear, clutching the dagger to him like it was a life line and watching everything.

"Fíli! I told you to stay hidden!" Elladan yelled as he turned his attention back to the front and released another arrow taking down a Warg in the process. He and Elrohir were almost out of arrows so he drew his sword, saving the last of his arrows for later.

Elrohir looked around, trying to find somewhere safe for the dwarfling to go before the Orcs were upon them to keep him out of reach. He spotted a low hanging branch nearby that with a little help they might be able to get Fíli onto and up away from the battle.

"Fíli! Head for the trees! You need to climb, just like I did earlier ok? Wait for me to say go alright?" He said looking over his shoulder to ensure the dwarfling heard him. When there was no response he yelled again.

"Fíli did you hear me? Don't worry about these guys; they won't get near you alright!"

This time Fíli nodded, still too terrified to say anything but he was already standing straight so he could move backwards when Elrohir told him too.

"Alright Fíli start moving now! To the tree where I hid the packs!" Elrohir called to him.

Fíli started shuffling backwards, unable to turn his back but instead watching as the first of the Orcs arrived and Elrohir and Elladan attacking them with grace and brute strength with their swords.

* * *

Gûndar had pulled his Warg off to the side and allowed the others to go ahead of him to deal with the elves. He wanted the dwarfling, so he was trying to work out the best way of getting to him without getting himself slaughtered. As he watched the battle with interest that was when he heard it,

"_Fíli! Head for the trees! You need to climb, just like I did earlier ok? Wait for me to say go alright!"_

Gûndar grinned: this was going to be too easy. He wasn't planning on letting the dwarfling live long, but he did want to ensure he was in as much pain as possible.

He grinned at the little dwarfling who was edging towards the trees.

* * *

Thorin and his companions arrived at the top of the slope overlooking the field and took in the sight before them. There were Orc and Warg bodies scattered across the ground leading from the forest to the current battle, all with arrows sticking out of them. Thorin scanned the fight and spotted what looked like the two elves, darting in and out of the Orcs, silver flashes near every Orc that fell. '_They're good warriors'_ Thorin thought absent-mindedly '_Not bad for their kind_.'

A flash of lightning lit up the area and that's when Thorin spotted the golden hair near the tree line. Fíli was facing the battle and moving towards the trees, refusing to turn his head in fear he could be attacked. A burst of thunder rolled through the valley making Fíli jump and look around for the noise in fear. Even with Orcs attacking he still had time to be afraid of the thunder.

They'd only stopped for several seconds to take in their surroundings, so a movement off to the side of the battle caused Thorin to pause a little longer to see what it was.

Lightning lit up the valley again, revealing an Orc astride a Warg with a bow, and an arrow pointing straight towards the battle. Only then did Thorin realise that the elves were too far to the Orcs left to be the intended target. No he was aiming past the battle. He was aiming at,

"FÍLI! NOOOOOOO!" Thorin screamed, and as the dwarfling looked to the slope upon hearing his name, all Thorin and his companions could do was watch in horror as the arrow crashed into Fíli's chest.


	10. A Painful Reunion

**Hello again everybody! Wowzers! What an awesome response to my last chapter! Hope I didn't break too many hearts but from the reviews I got I think my hoping has been for nothing :3 What a cruel but awesome cliff hanger to write! I loved writing it and it took me a few days to do so I'm glad you all enjoyed it. I apologize for my massive break between chapters, have been reading lots of different stories so time just slips by, but am determined to get this thing finished as my head is just swimming with all sorts of ideas for new stories!**

**Welcome to my new followers: GryffindorByHeart7, ACreativeHobbit, KungFuSchildi, ryro-fanfiction-x3, PJO-Blue-cookies, xbubblesx3o18x, redhairandahandmedownrobe, LiadanAlice, Juliana Rain, carome and Perenne Allegro glad you guys are loving the story! And love all my current followers as well!**

**This is more a filler chapter than anything but enjoy anyway!**

* * *

Through the rain Fíli saw glimpses of Elladan and Elrohir taking down Orc after Orc, never stopping or faulting in their movements. They were graceful and strong, yet fierce and deadly, everything he wanted to be when he started training. Fíli decided he was going to make sure that it was them who taught him when he was older, or the person who had trained them as he wanted to be just as good.

As he slowly moved backwards he stumbled a little on a root, and realised this meant he was near the trees. He looked away from the battle briefly to look for the tree Elrohir had been climbing and spotted it off to his left. Focusing on the battle once more he made his way across slowly in order to wait for one of his brothers.

Lightning lit the clearing and illuminated the battlefield, allowing Fíli to see that there were a large number of Orcs who were strewn across the ground, and two glints of silver from the Elvish blades that were still cutting the enemy down. Elladan and Elrohir had managed to eliminate half their enemy by now and neither appeared to be tiring or slowing down.

Fíli jumped when the thunder hit and despite what was happening around him he threw his hands up to cover his ears, careful not to cut his cheek open with the dagger that was still in his hands. The thunder was getting louder and it had frozen him to the spot, he was too scared to even think about moving anymore. He decided he was just going to wait where he was until Elrohir came and helped him.

There was another flash of lightning revealing the twins clearly for the first time since they had met the Orcs. Fíli watched as one of the twins blocked two Orcs with his swords, stabbed one, punched the other, and with a flourish of his swords suddenly neither Orc had a head as their bodies toppled to the ground.

Despite all the noise Fíli heard a cry making him turn his head to the right to see where it had come from,

"FÍLI! NOOOOOOO!"

He knew that voice. "Unca…?" Fíli asked before a pain erupted in his chest, making him stumble backwards from the force of the hit and he looked down to see an arrow protruding from his chest.

Fíli gasped in pain before his legs gave way and he hit the ground, sprawled on his back gasping for breath. As his vision dimmed, he heard his name being called but didn't know where it was coming from or who had called it. As the darkness took hold he could make out the outlines of two beings before his eyes slid shut and he knew no more.

* * *

Elladan and Elrohir moved effortlessly and in synch with each other's movements. Where one would let their guard down temporarily, the other would cover until they could correct their stance. They had always worked like this, two halves making a whole, complimenting and strengthening the others fighting style or occasionally lack of.

They were making easy work of their enemy, the Orcs had really only landed a couple of glancing blows and that was only to areas that were protected, they might gain a couple of bruises if nothing else. The rain was making it easier for them as well as unlike their enemies their eyes were unaffected by the darkness that was occasionally destroyed by the bright light.

Elrohir glanced over his shoulder at Fíli as a burst of thunder rolled through the area and saw that the dwarfling who had clapped his hands to his ears and looking wildly around in terror was near the tree.

"He's in place! Cover me so I can help him into the tree!" Elrohir yelled, turning his attention hastily back to the battle in order to stop an Orc from bashing his head in.

He and Elladan tried to gain enough time to help the dwarfling when another bolt of lightning struck, and a cry pierced the air.

"FÍLI! NOOOOOOO!"

Both elves were currently tangled with an Orc and a Warg so they couldn't turn to see where the cry had come from, but they both clearly heard the _twang_ from a bowstring milliseconds after the cry. Elladan and Elrohir felt their blood turn to ice as through all the noise they heard a sickening thud and a small gasp.

Killing their opponents they spun on the spot and the air left their lungs as though they had been punched in the chest when they spotted the one being they were looking for. Illuminated by yet another flash of lightning was Fíli; soaked to the skin from the rain, pale from the cold and fear and his head slightly bowed as he looked at the arrow sticking out of his chest, just shy of where his heart was. His blue eyes blinked in surprise as he looked at Elladan and Elrohir before he stumbled backwards slightly and fell flat on his back, the sounds of him gasping for breath like someone was screaming in their ears.

"FÍLI!" They screamed.

The elves looked at each other in horror before turning to take down four more Orcs who thought it would be a good idea to sneak up on them when their backs were turned, they were going to make this filth pay for what they had done, then they were going to save Fíli by any means necessary.

* * *

Thorin thought his heart had frozen in his chest even as he kicked Acorn into motion and charged down the slope towards his nephew. He heard the hooves of all the other horses close behind as they charged towards the Orcs.

_What if he's... _ "No" Thorin whispered to himself. He wouldn't think about that, he wouldn't let his mind finish that question because he knew it to be a lie. Fíli would be fine, he had to be. Thorin didn't think he'd survive his grief if something happened to his golden-haired nephew.

"You lot, capture the one with bow if possible, kill the rest!" He heard Dwalin bellow somewhere behind him, unable to stop his voice from cracking.

Thorin and his companions charged towards Fíli, whilst the soldiers broke rank and went after the remaining Orcs, there weren't many of them as the elves had managed to eliminate more than half of their number.

Thorin watched as the two elves raced over to Fíli and crouched either side him.

"Fíli!" Thorin yelled as he dismounted Acorn when he drew near and raced to his nephew. Thorin froze when he saw Fíli more clearly. His nephew was pale, so pale he looked like he could have matched freshly fallen snow in colour, his hair was plastered to his forehead from the rain, his eyes were closed and face was clear of pain which was a bad sign, but what caught Thorin's attention the most was the blood that was pooling quickly on his tunic around the shaft of the arrow.

He threw himself at the ground near Fíli's head and looked at the two elves who were talking rapidly in Elvish, hands moving quickly over Fíli's body, although what they were searching for Thorin had no clue.

Suddenly one of the elves let out a piercing whistle whilst the other scooped Fíli into his arms and stood.

"Where do you think yer going?! Put him down or I'll separate yer head from yer body elf!" Dwalin roared, drawing his sword and pointing it at the two elves. Dwalin and the rest of the company had stayed just behind Thorin, partly to avoid intruding on Thorin's pain, but also because they really didn't want to see where the arrow had hit, but their efforts were for nothing as it was the only thing that they could focus on.

The elf that wasn't carrying Fíli looked at the group of dwarves in anger. "We are taking Fíli to Ered Luin to a healer, he's barely hanging in there and we refuse to let him die. We do not know what claim you think you have to him, and seeing as we don't know you or what your relationship to him is we are not surrendering him to you either." Elrohir spat back at Dwalin, walking up to him until he was towering over the dwarf with anger etched into his normally carefree face.

Thorin glared up at the elf holding Fíli "He is my nephew, I am the only one here who has a claim to him." His voice was angry but it was controlled; he was trying to hold it together for Fíli. He wasn't going to let him die and these elves were saying that they wanted to help him. Whilst he hated elves with a passion he wasn't about to turn away any help when the situation was so dangerous.

Elladan glanced at his brother in surprise, so this dwarf must be part of the family that Fíli was trying to run from. Yet this dwarf had brought out an army with him in order to rescue his nephew, it didn't exactly scream 'unloved' to either elf like Fíli said he was.

"If you want your nephew to survive Master dwarf, then I suggest you let us help." Elladan looked past Thorin to where his and Elrohir's horses came galloping in to view from the forest.

"We are going to ride into Ered Luin and I would recommend you do the same."

Elladan waited for his brother to mount his horse before he handed Fíli up to him, Elrohir holding Fíli close to him and pressing his hand to Fíli's chest to try and help stop the blood that was escaping. Elladan snatched their packs off the ground and mounted his horse, glanced at the group of dwarves who were re-saddled and urged his horse into a gallop back towards Ered Luin with his brother and their precious cargo right next to him and the dwarven company close behind.

Elrohir and Elladan looked at their friend in fear

_Hang in there Fíli, hang in there._


	11. The House of Healing

**A/N Hello everybody! So once again a few days gap between chapters I do apologise profusely! This chapter was rather hard to write for two reasons, one of which you'll pick up on I'm sure, but the other I just didn't know how to write it. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm not going to say anything else on this matter! :)**

**Welcome to perfectharmony22, sassygirl9811, Pucaroo, Lithuenne and OwenHarpersGirl! Glad you guys are enjoying the story! And once again thanks to all my current favouriters/followers! Love you all to death and love all the amazing reviews! Let me know what you think! :)**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

"OPEN THE GATES!" Dwalin roared into the night.

The company of dwarves charged towards the gates, hot on the heels of the two elves that carried their precious cargo. The gates swung open just as the elves arrived at the wall and they shot through the gates without slowing down. Through the driving rain Thorin could see the elves slow briefly looking wildly about to try and spot a building that might house a healer.

Thorin galloped past them and roared out over his shoulder "THIS WAY! HURRY!"

The elves spurred their horses on and followed the dwarf towards wherever he was going, the rest of his companions close behind.

* * *

Houses blurred by in a flurry from motion and rain, but despite his surroundings Elrohir only had eyes and ears for the dwarfling he had seated in front of him, a hand pressed to his chest to try and stop the bleeding, and the rest of his body to try and shelter Fíli from the elements.

Elrohir hated how they'd had to return to town to heal Fíli. He and Elladan had argued in Elvish over what to do when the dwarves had arrived.

"_We can try heal him here, just remove the arrow and hopefully we can reverse the damage that's been done." Elrohir said._

"_No! You know that healing serious injuries is still difficult for us, and we don't have anything we need to do it successfully! Besides with these dwarves, the rain and the loss of blood Fíli isn't going to survive if we stay here."_

"_What are you suggesting?" Elrohir asked his brother urgently_

"_We take him to Ered Luin. We find a healers building where we have access to medicinal supplies and warmth and we work there. If we don't act soon he'll no doubt suffer a fever and will likely fall to pneumonia from the cold." Elladan said swiftly scooping Fíli into his arms as Elrohir let out a piercing whistle._

The two dwarves who were leading slowed in front of a house and the one who had threatened Elrohir with his sword raced inside, bellowing at the top of his lungs.

Elrohir looked down and saw his brother by his side with his arms open. Carefully and gently Elrohir lowered Fíli to his brother, dismounted his horse and raced after his brother.

* * *

"OIN! OIN WHERE ARE YA! WE 'AVE WOUNDED!" Dwalin bellowed as he raced through the door of the Healing House. He paused the moment he charged in as there were several healers picking supplies up off the floor as they'd dropped them in fright with his yelling. He heard hurried footsteps and turned towards the sound to see Oin and two other healers on his tail.

"How many?" Oin asked as he neared Dwalin.

"Jus' one. It's Fíli Oin. He g... he got hurt." Dwalin's voice broke slightly as he spoke quietly to Oin so as not to alert anyone, specifically Dís who was most likely awake by now.

Oin's eyes widened in shock at the news and his mouth dropped open as Thorin ran in with two elves hot on his tail, one holding the golden haired dwarfling.

"Oh Mahal…" Oin whispered. He looked at the two elves briefly before motioning for them to follow him. "This way, quickly."

The elves nodded and strode after Oin, Thorin, Dwalin and Balin hurrying behind them.

* * *

Oin led them into a room that was the furthest from Dís's room. The last thing any of them wanted was for her to hear her son screaming in pain in a room next to her and for her to come bursting in making things harder than they already were.

Elladan strode forwards and placed Fíli down gently onto the table that was there. He was about to start checking Fíli to try and find out how deep the arrow had gone when the sound of a sword being drawn had him spin around, hand on his sheathed sword to meet this new foe.

"Don't even think about it." Thorin hissed at him, the tip of his sword at Elladan's throat and the sound of multiple swords being drawn echoing around the room.

Elladan cursed under his breath and looked around; Elrohir had his sword pointing at three dwarves who had him corned and their swords pointing at his throat.

Bofur, Gloin and Bifur had secured all the ponies and the two horses in the stable at the side of the Healing House before rushing in, and seeing the nod Thorin gave to Dwalin when they entered the room they could easily guess what he had planned. The moment Thorin drew his sword they cornered the other elf to stop him from trying to help his brother, although they weren't sure if this was a particularly bright idea given the situation, and the fact these elves had finished a battle not 10 minutes prior and would be full of adrenaline which could make the situation worse if they acted.

"What do you think you are doing?" Elladan asked angrily.

"It is your fault Fíli is like this, if you hadn't taken him he would have been safe and he wouldn't be lying here," Thorin nodded to Oin to start looking at Fíli before turning his attention back to the elf. "The ONLY reason you are still alive is because you brought my nephew here. Now I suggest you leave before change my mind." Thorin hissed at the elf.

"We can help him!" The elf who was cornered by Bofur, Bifur and Gloin insisted angrily.

"The only help ya can give is if ya git yer miserable hides out of Ered Luin and never return!" Dwalin spat out.

There was a stare down between the elves and dwarves before Elrohir turned to his brother.

"El," was all he said, jerking his head towards the door.

Elladan spat out an elvish curse, looked at Fíli fearfully for a brief moment and strode out of the room after his brother, barely flinching when the door was slammed shut.

"_We can't leave him! Not like this!"_ Elladan thought angrily to his brother who had walked away from the room.

"_We're not leaving him,"_ Elrohir thought back, returning with two chairs and placing them opposite the door, sitting heavily in one. _"We are going to stay here and listen to what happens. The moment they need help we are going to barge in there and take over, even if it gets us banned from here for life, I will not let him die. I just hope the wound isn't too severe."_

Elrohir really, REALLY hoped the wound wasn't severe.

* * *

Thorin raced over to Fíli's side and grabbed his nephews hand with one hand, and running his free one through the soaked hair.

"How bad Oin?" Thorin asked, his voice barely above a whisper. When he received no reply he cleared his throat and asked louder, his voice cracking as he tried to talk.

Oin looked at him briefly from inspecting Fíli's chest, grabbing at a cloth from a healer who had come in to try to clean away and slow the bleeding as he talked. "Bad. The arrows deep Thorin, deeper than I would like, and already a fever is raging through his body." He knew there was no use trying to lessen the blow. "Gloin get the fire going, otherwise you'll all end up with pneumonia, Fíli included." He said over his shoulder loudly.

He looked back at Thorin with concern. "That's not the worst part I'm afraid. The location of the arrow shaft is right next to his heart, yet the entry hole is much bigger than it would normally be."

Thorin looked at Oin, fear flooding him completely; waiting for Oin to voice what he was couldn't stop thinking.

"Thorin, it means that the arrow head must be a great deal bigger than it should be and because of its size it has most likely caused some form of damage to his heart."

Thorin's knees hit the ground and there was a silence that settled over the room, the new information sinking in for the dwarves gathered.

A whimper from the table drew Oin's attention as Fíli started writhing underneath the healers hands. Thorin jumped back to his feet to try and help Oin and the other healer still his nephew.

"Stop Fíli, don't move little one." Thorin said in as gentle voice as he could muster for the time being.

Fíli's eyes cracked open and looked up towards Thorin, unable to focus.

"Unca… Hurts…" He moaned, before a scream of agony was wrenched from his lips and his body began thrashing under the hold of Thorin, Dwalin and Balin whilst the two healers tried to stop the blood that was beginning to flow quickly once more.

The other dwarves stood there watching in horror at the scene before them when the door suddenly crashed open, causing everyone to look towards the new arrival.

"Dís!"

* * *

Fréya had just left Dís's room in order to find some more blankets for Dís, herself and baby Kíli as it was getting colder due to the storm. She had spent some time holding Kíli and marvelling at the gift of new life in front of her, as she'd never seen a newborn before as her siblings were older than her, and she'd never been allowed around babies until they were a little older. She and Dís spent a lot of time talking about Kíli and how gorgeous he was. She knew Dís was glad for the company, as Thorin had left her hours ago to fetch Fíli, and when asked about their absence Fréya had made up some excuse about Thorin not bringing Fíli until Dís was well rested, but that he had asked Fréya to go be there and help Dís if she needed it.

Fréya was walking down the door when an almighty roar made her jump in fright

"OIN! OIN WHERE ARE YA! WE HAVE WOUNDED!"

"Dwalin?" Fréya whispered to herself with a frown as she hurried forwards to see who had been injured.

Fréya peered around the corner to the main waiting room and saw Dwalin and Oin talking quickly, then watched as two large beings entered the house followed by Thorin and Balin.

The moment the two strangers stepped into the Healing House Fréya felt her stomach drop and thought she was going to be sick. There, cradled in one of the taller persons arms was a dwarf with blonde hair, and an arrow pointing straight up from somewhere in his torso.

"Fíli" Fréya whispered in horror, leaning against the wall for support.

He'd been hurt, the little dwarfling she loved with all her heart had been hurt and all because she hadn't kept an eye on him. She knew she would never forgive herself, not for this.

Movement towards her spurred her into motion to move quickly back down the hallway to hide behind a dresser and watch as Oin led the group towards a room. The moment they had disappeared through the door Fréya stumbled back to Dís's room completely unaware of how pale she had become.

Fréya all but fell through the door when she opened it and collapsed against the wall after shutting the door behind her.

She looked at Dís in horror to see that Dís was busy cuddling Kíli and had yet to look at her.

"Was that Dwalin I heard? Is everything alright out there?" Dís asked still focused on her baby, making cooing noises at her arms.

When there was no reply Dís looked up to take in Fréya's pale and terrified features.

"Fréya, what's the matter?" Dís asked looking concerned. She got up, placed Kíli in his cot and moved towards her, placing a hand on Fréya's shoulders.

"Fréya? Who's out there? Who was hurt?" Dís asked firmly.

Fréya shook her head slightly, her mouth opening and closing several times unable to get any sound out.

"Fíli…" Was all Fréya managed to whisper.

Dís stood completely still, the colour draining from her face before she dashed out the door with Fréya right behind her.

Dís stood in the hallway, looking around wildly for any sign of her golden son. She noticed two men sitting outside of a room right at the end of the hall. As she drew closer an agonised scream that could only belong to a child tore through the air.

The two men looked up in horror at the door opposite them that was shut giving Dís all the answers she needed. With a sob escaping her and Fréya's lips Dís raced over to the door and shoved it open.

The sight that greeted her made her want to scream. There was Thorin, Dwalin and Balin holding down a dwarf to stop them from thrashing whilst Oin and a healer were nearby trying to do something, and there was an arrow sticking straight up from the dwarf on the table indicating the injury. A flash of gold from the opposite end of the table was all Dís saw of the dwarf's hair but it gave her the answer she needed but didn't want.

She took all this in in a split second before she had all the dwarves in the room looking at her stricken.

"Dís!"

* * *

Thorin thought his heart had stopped as he watched his sister throw herself into the room, terror written all over her face as she raced to the table.

"Fíli! My baby!" She cried as she raced to the table next to Thorin.

Thorin reached out and tried to stop his sister from seeing where the arrow had hit, but it was to no avail.

"NO! FÍLI!" Dís screamed when she saw the arrow sticking out of his chest, beginning to sob.

"Dís! He's alive! He's a fighter and won't leave us, we'll save him I promise you but please you must leave!" Thorin sobbed to his sister, pulling her away from the table whilst tears streaked down his face. He hadn't wanted her to see Fíli like this, and all the emotions and adrenaline were over powering him so much that all he wanted to do was hug his family and cry.

"Fíli…" Dís sobbed as Thorin led her to Fréya who was shaking like a leaf and crying.

"Go… Go be with Kíli, he needs you to stay strong. They both do." Thorin said, leading both dwarrowdams out of the room, unable to stop his voice from breaking as he spoke.

As Thorin shut the door on his sister who was stumbling back to her room he spotted the two elves sitting outside the room looking scared. Their reactions were strange for elves, especially when it wasn't one of their own injured, but he couldn't bring himself to think about it or care as all he wanted to do was to be with Fíli.

Thorin raced over to the table just as Oin was cutting Fíli's shirt away to reveal the entry point, and felt his stomach drop. The entry wound itself wasn't huge; it was smaller than what he had imagined. However what was most concerning were the thick black veins that surrounded the wound and trailed out like webs, as well as the blood that was oozing out slowly, the arrow head now stopping the blood from gushing out.

Thorin choked back a breath when he examined his nephew and looked to Oin in horror.

"What could cause this?" Thorin whispered

Oin looked at Thorin in concern as he picked up a knife from the table. "Restrain him" Oin said to Dwalin with a nod to Thorin.

Before Thorin could move or register what had been said Dwalins' arms wrapped around his chest the same moment Oin placed the knife to Fíli's skin near the wound. Thorin began struggling in Dwalins' arms as Fíli started screaming in pain.

"Stop it! OIN STOP!" Thorin roared still struggling.

"Gimme a hand here and hold him down!" Oin yelled at the other dwarves in the room. Once Balin, Bofur, Gloin and the other healer had Fíli pinned completely to the bed Oin drew the knife across the wound on either side causing black tainted blood to spill from the cuts Oin had made.

When Oin was satisfied the wound was big enough he dropped his blade on the table and grasped the arrow as close to Fíli as he could. "Hold him!" Oin yelled as Fíli began thrashing violently on the table again.

Once the dwarves had Fíli subdued once again he wrenched the arrow up and out, a tearing noise followed by a blood curdling scream echoing round the room.

Oin's assistant quickly stepped up with a towel and pressed it to the open wound as Oin moved to the fire and used the light to examine the arrow head. It was definitely a bigger head than what most arrows had, the tips of the arrow were curved into sharp points designed to ensure if the arrow was pulled at it would cause even more damage, especially if it hit any organs. But the stone it was made of was odd. Oin didn't recognise it at first and ran a list of stones through his mind to try and identify what it was made of when a foul smell hit him. Oin looked at the arrow carefully and gave it a good sniff before it slipped from his hands in horror. He knew what this was… it was something that the Orcs had just started using, and it created one of the worst forms of suffering and death possible.

"OIN!"

A started yell had Oin spinning on the spot and racing over to the table whilst snatching up his stethoscope. The colour had all but drained from Fíli's face, just a sheen of sweat on his pale face as his body started convulsing on the table.

"I need Kingsfoil! Now!" Oin yelled at the other healer as he placed the end of his stethoscope on Fíli's chest, the healer nodded and sprinted from the room.

"Oin! What's happening?!" Thorin asked in a panicked voice, successfully out of Dwalin's hold and back at Fíli's side, whilst Dwalin had switched to Fíli and was currently trying to stop the dwarfling from thrashing on the table in his seizure.

"It was a morgul shaft Thorin, it has only just appeared in Middle Earth. The enemy now uses it, a rock forged from evil magic that bleeds poison. The Kingsfoil should slow down the poison but there is nothing I can…"

The door slammed open and Elladan and Elrohir swept into the room and headed straight for Fíli.

"GET OUT!" Thorin roared at the elves, drawing his sword once again. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE IN HERE! IT IS YOUR FAULT HE'S LIKE THIS!"

The elves ignored him and continued heading for Fíli. All the dwarves save Oin lunged forward with their swords drawn and stood their ground to block the elves from getting to the dwarfling.

"Move! You may still be naïve to curing wounds like this but we can do it. We will NOT let Fíli die because of a bunch of thick headed dwarves!" Elladan hissed.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY NEPHEW! IF YOU TAKE ONE MORE STEP I…"

"THORIN!" Oin's choking cry cut Thorin off causing everyone to look at him.

Oin was focused on Fíli's now limp form, his stethoscope still on Fíli's chest to listen to his heart. He looked up with tears in his eyes

"Fíli's heart's stopped."


	12. The Memories We Share

**A/N**

**Hello again everyone! Once again I am SO SORRY for leaving you hanging for so long! Incredibly cruel of me so I do apologize! So this chapter, boy, hard to write but definitely full of feels! One thing you need to remember though is that not a lot of time actually passes during this chapter, only a few minutes which is mentioned near the end. I won't say WHY this is important for you to note, only that it is and you'll pick up on that later on.**

**Now when I was planning this like last month, there was one soundtrack that was totally fitting and I wrote part of this to this particular score. The score to go with the beginning is Titanic - A Promise Kept. Trust me, MAJOR feels alert! O.o, maybe put it on repeat for the second half of the chapter but it definitely works! **

**Welcome to the new followers: snchills, Finduilas88, hunterlab12, StarOfGondolin, DreamElm76, midnightblue93, IAmCaptainAwesme and emmakmcoutlook! And thank you once again to all my other followers! You guys are AMAZING!  
**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

Sound was but a whisper in a suffocating vacuum of shock. Thorin thought he remembered hearing his sword hit the stone floor and bounce several times, hearing the metal clanging as it came to rest but he's wasn't sure, it sounded so far away. He thought pain and grief were swallowing him whole as it felt as if time were slowing down around him, everyone moving at a fraction of the speed they normally would.

But Thorin only had eyes for Fíli.

Fíli, his first nephew, his golden haired boy, the light for his dark tunnel of a life was gone. Fíli, the one who when he was born and gave Thorin a coo when he was held for the first time was the one who chased Thorin's nightmares away for the first time in a long time. Fíli, the one who made Thorin believe that maybe, just maybe everything would be alright.

But he was gone.

Thorin felt someone grab him, muscly tattooed arms wrapped around his shoulders: Dwalin. Thorin heard a cry echo through the room, realising that it was coming from his parted lips as his knees hit the stone floor, watching as the two elves ran towards Fíli.

Thorin looked around at the others gathered: Dwalin, his brother-in-arms who was holding onto him with everything he had, trying to ground the pair of them to stop them from disappearing in their grief had tears streaming down his face. Balin, Thorin's most trusted advisor and father figure holding onto Dwalin's shoulder with his head bowed in despair. Oin, at a loss for words as he gaped down at the dwarfling who had become still on the table, decades of experience as a healer unable to prepare him for the loss of a child who was dear to him. Bofur and Gloin, two of Thorin's close friends and Fíli's honorary Uncle's clutching at each other in horror and pain for what they've lost whilst Bifur stood guard next to them watching Fíli curiously, as though waiting for Fíli to yell surprise and start giggling madly.

But it doesn't happen.

Thorin swayed slightly as the two elves (what are they still doing here?) leapt over him towards Fíli, their words echoing faintly in his ears in a jumble, and all Thorin did was watch them out of blurry eyes as they stopped on either side of Fíli, one talking to Oin and the other yelling to the left at the open door.

Thorin could only watch the table, memories of his nephew flitting through his mind; the first time Fíli smiled at him when he was born, Fíli's first word, the first time Fíli said "Unca" with so much love and a smile on his face that Thorin didn't stop the tears that ran down his face, his first steps and so many other firsts.

But other memories that weren't milestones were also at the forefront of his mind; teaching Fíli how to make a snowman when he was old enough, lying on a grassy hill with Fíli tucked into his side when he came home from his journeys and just watching the clouds and laughing at the different shapes only a child could see in them, Fíli pretending Thorin was a horse and riding on his back for ages until Thorin became a tickle monster sending the youngster off screaming in joy to hide from this new foe (and finding a new horse in the unfortunate Dwalin who happened to walk in the door at that moment to help defeat said tickle monster), Fíli tucked in next to him in a chair near the fireplace and Thorin reading a book of fairy tales whilst his parents were out for the night, and Thorin's most treasured memory; Fíli sneaking into Thorin's room during a thunderstorm, clambering up onto his bed to stroke Thorin's hair because he wanted to make sure Thorin wasn't scared from all the loud noise. Thorin of course had been sleeping soundly only to wake to Fíli running his hands over his hair and realised that Fíli was scared, so playing along Thorin thanked Fíli for protecting him and asked his nephew if he'd stay the night so they could protect each other. When Dís had gone in the next morning in a panic when she couldn't find Fíli it was only to find him lying on top of Thorin with a thumb in his mouth, both sound asleep, and something both parents, Dwalin and Balin saw and had never let Thorin live down since.

Thorin knew that memories like those were all he'd get, he'd never get to make new ones with his nephew like teaching him how to ride a horse or fight, watching him learn to read and write, and knowing that Kíli would never get to know his golden haired brother.

There was a scream that pierced the air, bringing the sound back to its entirety and wrenching Thorin from his dazed remembrance, making him turn his head only to feel his heart clench so painfully he thought he might choke. Standing in the doorway was Dís, eyes wide and sweeping across all the dwarves in the room, with Fréya standing behind her trying to comfort a screaming Kíli. Dís's eyes swept the room before focusing on Thorin, and seeing the lost and broken expression in his eyes she fell to her knees and screamed and wept.

"NO! No no no no no no! Fíli! FÍLI! BABY PLEASE!" Dís screamed at the table.

* * *

"I need Athelas! NOW! WHERE IS IT?!" Elladan yelled over the hysterical dwarrowdam and baby in the doorway.

"Get me a bowl of hot water also" Elrohir said to Oin who nodded and hurried over to the table nearby.

The young healer burst into the room shoving past Fréya and Dís and darted around all the dwarves to the elves.

"What are yer goin' to do?" Oin asked, returning with a bowl of hot water.

"We won't let him die. His heart may have stopped but it doesn't mean he's gone." Elladan said grabbing the Athelas off the young healer and shoving it into the hot water, shredding it with his hands and rolling it into a mushy paste with his fingers.

Elrohir was doing the same with the Athelas as his brother, but was suddenly shoved to the side by Dís who had taken a still screaming Kíli off Fréya and hurried over to the table whilst sobbing.

"Fíli! Fíli darling you have to w…wake up! You have to wake up so you can meet Kíli. You're a b…big brother now, there's so m…much that you have to teach him for mummy… Please darling!" Dís begged over Kíli's screaming, shaking Fíli's limp form on the table with one hand whilst trying to settle Kíli to no avail.

"Get her out of here!" Elladan shouted, looking at Thorin.

Dwalin hurried forward and pulled Dís away from her son whilst being careful of Kíli. The further away Dwalin pulled Dís, the louder Kíli's screaming became which made Dís cry even more. Dwalin gently pulled Dís to Thorin and when she reached him she fell to her knees and leaned into Thorin who wrapped his arm around his sister, tears streaming down his face.

Elladan and Elrohir quickly began applying the Athelas paste that they'd made to Fíli's wound, pushing it inside until it was overflowing from the hole.

"I suggest you move back master dwarves, you are only going to get in the way." Elladan said to the two healers who nodded and moved clear of the table, but were close enough to see what would happen.

Elrohir looked to his brother _"This is going to hurt, isn't it?"_ he asked in Elvish, not wanting to alert the dwarves to what was about to happen.

_"I'm afraid so, however with the two of us hopefully it won't be as bad."_ Elladan said looking at his brother sadly.

Elladan and Elrohir faced each other from opposite sides of the table and each placed a hand on Fíli's forehead and their other hand over the wound so that Elrohir's hand rested on top of his brothers. The brothers closed their eyes, took a deep breath and began to chant.

* * *

The moment the Elves began to chant all the dwarves could sense a shift in the room; it was like they were being pulled at from different angles causing their skin to itch and their bodies to sting, and the air felt heavier than normal making it difficult to breathe. The chanting had started off quietly but gradually got louder, until it sounded like the Elves were talking to each other at a normal if not slightly louder level.

Thorin knew that they were using some sort of Elven magic because he could feel his energy being drained slightly. The chanting was affecting the fireplace and all the lanterns in the room as the lights were beginning to flicker, increasing then decreasing in strength. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the Elves as their chanting became stronger; Kíli's cries the only other noise to be heard in the packed room.

A light began to glow around the Elves and Fíli, the flames in the fireplace flickering and fanning dangerously as though a gust of wind was trying to blow it out. Thorin watched with wide eyes as the white light completely engulfed the Elves and the table, blinding everyone in the room and forcing them to throw their arms across their eyes to block out the light.

Twin cries pierced the air and all light extinguished in the room throwing them all into darkness.

* * *

A single light from a flint broke through the black void.

"Can't see a flamin' thing…" Gloin grumbled into the dark silence as he stumbled towards the fireplace and poured some oil onto the logs before tossing the flint inside bringing the fire back to full strength.

The other dwarves removed their arms from their eyes and looked at the table. The two elves were slumped on the floor unmoving, the two healers quickly scrambling to check on them. Thorin picked himself off the floor and moved to the table, his footsteps heavy in the silent room now that Kíli was strangely silent.

Thorin looked at one of the elves as he drew closer to the table, the elf was incredibly pale, and a trail of blood was trickling from his nose and when he peered over at the other elf he saw that he was just the same.

"Oin…" Thorin said turning his attention from the elves to his nephew, his heart in his mouth and tears in his eyes, hoping, _praying_, that the elves had done something.

Oin stood and picked up his stethoscope and moved to the table placing the stethoscope to Fíli's chest, shaking his head sadly. Fíli's heart was as still as it had been when it had stopped three minutes prior.

Thorin let out a sob, only to be silenced when there was a coo and a clapping of hands that had all the dwarves turning to look at Kíli, only to see his attention focused on the table. He gave another coo and clapped his hands together with a smile lighting up his face.

Fíli gasped for breath, followed by a hacking cough, trying to get his lungs working again.


End file.
